The pressure came without warning.
Heavy. Ancient. Unforgiving.
Li Hao's body trembled as if the sky itself had descended upon him.
Inside his Soul Sea, the newly forged entity stirred.
The golden lightning dragon coiled tighter. The frozen blade hummed with a chilling resonance.
As if… resisting something.
Above the endless void of his consciousness, a massive eye opened.
Cold. Detached. Absolute.
The Heavenly Will.
"An anomaly… detected."
The voice was neither loud nor soft—yet it echoed through existence itself.
Li Hao's breathing grew ragged.
"A soul… not granted."
Lightning surged wildly within him, clashing against the invisible pressure.
The ice blade responded—freezing even the invading force for a brief instant.
A pause.
Then—
"Irregularity acknowledged."
The eye began to close.
"Observation initiated."
The pressure vanished.
Li Hao collapsed onto the forest floor, drenched in sweat.
But his eyes… burned brighter than ever.
He had been noticed.