By the time Li Hao returned to the Li Family, dawn had already broken.
Servants froze when they saw him.
"Young… master?"
Whispers spread quickly.
The "waste" had returned from the Dark Forest alive.
Inside the main hall, the elders gathered.
"You dare enter the Dark Forest without permission?" one elder snapped.
Li Hao said nothing.
"Speak!"
Finally, he raised his head.
"I awakened."
Silence.
Then laughter.
"Delusion!"
"A man without a martial soul cannot cultivate!"
Even his father frowned slightly.
"Hao… do not joke about such matters."
Li Hao stepped forward.
"You wanted proof."
He raised his hand.
The air dropped in temperature instantly.
Frost spread across the floor—creeping, elegant, unstoppable.
A blade of pure ice formed in his grasp.
The hall froze.
Literally.
Elders stumbled back in shock.
"This… this is…"
"A weapon martial soul?!"
His father stood up abruptly.
"Impossible!"
Li Hao lowered the sword.
The frost receded.
No one noticed the faint flicker of golden lightning hidden deep within his veins.