[You did not rush to intervene in the battle overhead between Gu Changqing, Gu Changze, and the other two eighth-tier cultivators.]
[If you revealed your cultivation now, you might draw a joint assault from everyone.]
[Having made up your mind, you flicked a fingertip. A thread of clear, lustrous spiritual energy shot out, transformed into a slender water snake, and slipped into Gu Feng's and Gu Rui's mouths and noses.]
[Both men were gravely wounded and on the verge of death, their meridians damaged throughout their bodies and their strength utterly spent. Unable to resist, they could only let the spiritual energy enter their bodies and travel through their meridians.]
[Gu Rui's expression changed. "What did you do to us?" he demanded.]
[You smiled faintly. "Rest assured. I won't kill you here and earn a reputation for bullying the weak and murdering my imprisoned elder brothers, inviting condemnation throughout Azure Sea Lake."]
["This is an Internalized Water-Binding Restriction. Once inside your bodies, it takes root in your meridians. Without my lifting it, you cannot mobilize a fraction of your spiritual power or any of your countless techniques."]
[Beside him, Gu Feng lay quietly on the ground, letting the spiritual energy enter his body without a word.]
[After this defeat, his heart had already turned to dead ashes. He had finally relinquished his years-long obsession with becoming Crown Prince.]
[Your gaze shifted slightly, settling on Xie Yuan, who had spoken earlier to reassure the demons.]
[He was the young chief of the Celestial River Demon Crab Tribe.]
[His speech had steadied the chiefs of the Nine Great Clans. So long as they were not of the Pure Water Demonic Dragon lineage, no matter how exalted your bloodline was, you could not suppress theirs.]
[You could not help smiling. Since you would