The last thing Ethan saw was the water mirror.
Deep within the mirror, the abyssal blue rotated slowly, like a pupil-less eye.
Then, everything went black.
Ethan's body hung suspended in midair by the water chains, his arms stretched out to the sides and his feet dangling off the ground.
The water chains extended from all directions, pinning him securely to the very center of the altar.
The water orb atop the stone pillar continued to rotate slowly, sending a faint blue ripple through the air with every turn.
The crystals embedded in the walls no longer burst with blinding light, returning to their previous state of steady, slowly undulating luminescence.
The water mirror hovered before Ethan, the abyssal blue deep within its surface still slowly spinning.
The altar fell silent.
A drop of water fell from somewhere on the high dome, splashing against the stone floor with a crisp echo.
The watery light inside the altar continued to flicker.
The waves of light undulating inside the emerald-blue crystals on the walls had not stopped since Ethan was suspended by the water chains. With each flicker, they cast a thin film of light onto the stone floor.
The water orb on the stone pillar still rotated slowly, dispersing a pale blue ripple with every revolution.
The water mirror floated before Ethan, the abyssal blue deep within its surface still slowly turning like an eye that never closed.
Ethan hung suspended in midair by the water chains, his arms stretched out and his feet off the ground.
The thumb-thick water chains stretched from all directions, wrapping around his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck.
The blue runes inside the chains glowed, and their heavy pressure pressed relentlessly against his bones.
His head hung slightly low, his eyes closed, his breathing steady.
The only sound in the altar was the dripping of water from somewhere on the dome.
The water mirror directly in front of the altar suddenly trembled.
The abyssal blue deep within the mirror stopped rotating, and a thin crack split open down its center.
The crack expanded to both sides, the mirror's surface parting as if pushed open from within, revealing a wide passage.
The stone walls on both sides of the passage were densely embedded with emerald-blue crystals, casting a glow that made the entire corridor look as though it were submerged under the sea.
Footsteps echoed from deep within the passage.
Over a dozen figures walked out of the passage one after another.
Leading them was a gaunt Sea Race member dressed in a dark gray robe, the hem dragging against the stone floor.
His face resembled a human's, but his cheekbones were highly prominent, his eye sockets deep, and his pupils a pale blue with no whites.
On each side of his neck was a slender gill slit that gently opened and closed with his breathing.
This was a typical characteristic of the Deep Mirror Clam tribe.
As an ancient clan among the Sea Race renowned for secret techniques and mental suppression, the Deep Mirror Clam tribe had guarded the Deep Sea Mirror Lake for generations. Their mental power possessed an innate talent for condensing water elements and weaving runic chains.
Behind him followed twelve Sea Race members, varying in height and build.
Walking on the far left was a warrior of the Sword King Fish tribe clad in bone armor, with three foot-long bone-white spikes protruding from his shoulder blades, each of his steps landing with a dull, metallic thud.
Beside him was a stout man from the Eight-Claw Giant Crab tribe. Eight short, thick tentacles extended from beneath his robe, the tip of each encased in a dark red carapace. A string of sea urchin shell ornaments hung from his waist, clinking as he walked.
Behind them, a tall, thin figure from the Echinoderm Starfish tribe walked with a hunched back. Dark green seaweed wrapped around his pale arms, and his five fingers could bend in any direction, their tips glowing with a faint blue luminescence.
There was also a youth from the Electric Eel tribe whose cheeks were covered in dense, fine golden patterns, with faint arcs of electricity flowing through each line.
Additionally, there were several Silver-Fin Merfolk draped in seaweed cloaks, an elder of the Giant Clam tribe carrying a spiral shell on his back, and a short member of the Pufferfish tribe with two coral daggers tucked into his waist...
Over a dozen Sea Race guards from different tribes stood in silent formation. They came from various great tribes of the deep sea, yet at this moment, they all followed a single individual.
The last to emerge was a round-faced Sea Race youth.
He wore a deep blue short robe and a belt studded with emerald-blue crystals. The gill slits on his face were thinner and shorter than the others, indicating he was clearly younger.
However, on each side of his forehead was a pale gold protrusion, resembling two young horns that had not yet fully grown, half-hidden by the black hair falling over his brow.
The Sea Dragon tribe was the co-ruler of the four seas, and their patriarch was a supreme existence who had reached the Eighth-Tier lifeform rank, ruling over every inch of the sea from shallow coral reefs to deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
As the three-thousandth prince of the Sea Dragon tribe, though Boulder was not yet fully grown, the aura surrounding him already made the guards of various tribes behind him dare not look up.
Boulder walked up to the water mirror, looking up at Ethan suspended in midair, a trace of excitement flashing in his pale blue eyes.
He turned his head to look at the gaunt Deep Mirror Clam elder.
“Is he truly under control?”
The Deep Mirror Clam elder nodded.
He raised his right hand, palm up, and a fist-sized orb of water condensed in his palm.
Densely packed blue runes flowed within the water orb, identical to the runes on the water chains.
He glanced down at the water orb, then looked back up at Ethan.
“Rest assured, Three-Thousandth Prince. This is the Profound Water God-Binding Chain, an ancestral technique of our Deep Mirror Clam tribe specifically designed to counter mental power. Let alone a newly advanced First-Tier Wizard like him, even those old fogies who have stayed at the First-Tier for hundreds of years wouldn't be able to break free once bound. The runes inside the water chains will continuously suppress his mental sea, forcing his consciousness to the absolute bottom. He has no perception of the outside world right now.”
His tone was very casual, as if stating an ordinary fact.
The water orb in his palm rotated slowly, sending an extremely faint blue ripple through the air with every turn.
The water chains binding Ethan seemed to resonate with the water orb, the runes on them glowing a bit brighter.
Boulder grinned.
He took two steps forward, standing directly beneath Ethan, and looked up at the wizard bound in midair.
Tilting his neck back, his pale blue eyes swept over Ethan, scanning all the way from his bound ankles to the top of his bowed head.
“Heh, he really is a First-Tier Wizard.” He looked sideways at the Deep Mirror Clam elder. “Your tribe's secret techniques are quite handy. Nothing will go wrong, right?”
The Deep Mirror Clam elder tossed the water orb in his palm upward.
The water orb left his hand and rose slowly, finally hovering directly above Ethan's head.
The blue runes inside the water orb began to rotate faster, shedding a very thin layer of blue light dust onto Ethan below with every revolution.
Those glowing particles fell onto Ethan's hair, shoulders, and arms, seeping into his skin and disappearing.
“Rest assured, Three-Thousandth Prince,” the Deep Mirror Clam elder said, withdrawing his hand. “Our tribe's secret techniques have been passed down for ten thousand years without a single error. The water chains are completely bound to his spirit. Even if a Tier 3 Wizard were to arrive in person, they might not be able to undo these God-Binding Chains without taking his life. Unless, of course, he self-detonates. That could also break the bindings.”
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