"Your subordinate greets the Alliance Leader." A group of merfolk Gu Immortals knelt before Fang Yuan, their expressions profoundly reverent.
Fang Yuan swept his gaze over them, somewhat surprised.
He discovered that all of these merfolk Gu Immortals were women — some charming, some gentle, some pure as ice. The highest cultivation was Seventh Transformation, with two among them, while the remaining four were all at Sixth Transformation.
"All female immortals..." Fang Yuan muttered inwardly.
This was somewhat problematic.
He had relocated this batch of merfolk into the Supreme Immortal Aperture specifically so they could reproduce and flourish. Without any male merfolk Gu Immortals and with six female immortals instead, the balance was overwhelmingly skewed toward the feminine.
However, Fang Yuan recalled that among the merfolk race, females had always held higher status than males. When merfolk elected a Holy Maiden, they had never once elected a Holy King.
Perhaps the Merfolk Royal Court had dispatched only these female immortals — not a single male among them — precisely as a way of showing him respect and deference.
"You yourselves are already members of the Heaven and Earth Great Love Alliance. Now that you are entering the Supreme Immortal Aperture, you are even more so my people. Remember to abide by the rules within. Someone will explain the details to you."
As he spoke, Fang Yuan opened the aperture portal.
"We humbly obey the Alliance Leader's instructions!" The merfolk female immortals hurriedly responded, obediently walking through the portal.
The next moment, their vision shifted dramatically. They found themselves standing beneath a vast expanse of sky, standing on a stretch of pristine white cloud-earth, with a city in the distance shaped like an enormous conch shell, radiating brilliant starlight.
"Did you look up just now?"
"No, I've never been this close to the Alliance Leader before. I kept my head down the entire time!"
"I gathered every ounce of courage and stole a glance when I stood up and walked through the portal. My heavens, the Alliance Leader is truly... so beautiful!"
"The Alliance Leader possesses a Venerable's cultivation and is so considerate toward us otherkin — and what's more, he's this gorgeous. I've never seen such a beautiful and gentle figure of authority in all my life."
The two Sixth Transformation merfolk female immortals clearly shared a close relationship. Whispering to each other, their excitement was palpable, their reverence and adoration for Fang Yuan unconcealed.
As for the remaining two Sixth Transformation female immortals, their expressions were solemn and their demeanor restrained.
"Silence, all of you," said one of the leaders, Yu Zi, with some displeasure. "The Alliance Leader is not someone for you to comment on so freely! This is the Supreme Immortal Aperture!"
The female immortals hastily lowered their heads and said no more, only exchanging glances that could hardly conceal their inner excitement.
The other leader, Lian Kexin, reached out and squeezed Yu Zi's hand in comfort.
Lian Kexin, Yu Zi, and Xie Ningsi were the three leading figures of the Merfolk Royal Court. Fang Yuan had come to relocate the merfolk into the Supreme Immortal Aperture — how could the Merfolk Royal Court dare refuse?
Upon receiving the order, the Merfolk Royal Court held an emergency deliberation that lasted an entire day and night.
In the end, they selected their two leading figures and the four most beautiful merfolk female immortals, presenting all six to Fang Yuan as a group. This required separating two pairs of immortal couples, one of which had already been discussing marriage.
The Merfolk Royal Court possessed no Eighth Transformation cultivators. Their three most powerful combatants at Seventh Transformation were precisely the three reigning Grand Elders — and they had directly dispatched two of them, which spoke volumes about the Merfolk Royal Court's determination.
They had then further filtered out all male immortals, deliberately selecting only the most beautiful female ones. This calculation carried undertones of trying to attach themselves to Fang Yuan and climb as high as possible.
This was not strange at all.
Mankind was the undisputed hegemon. The Merfolk Royal Court had survived to the present by habitually embracing a humble existence.
Back then, it was Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable who had intervened and preserved the Merfolk Royal Court. After Paradise Earth passed away, his influence gradually faded, and the Merfolk Royal Court had frequently arranged marriages with the major Righteous Path forces of the Eastern Sea. They had also been very eager to take powerful independent cultivators of the Eastern Sea as sons-in-law.
This had always been the Merfolk Royal Court's way of operating.
They had benefited from Venerable Paradise Earth, which was how they had gained acceptance from the Eastern Sea's human factions. Now that Fang Yuan was also a Venerable and had seized control of the Eastern Sea, the Merfolk Royal Court — unlike other human forces — simply could not align with Giant Sun Immortal Venerable or Star Constellation Immortal Venerable. The only option among the three that was closest to otherkin was the Great Love Immortal Venerable.
Thus, even though two of the female merfolk Gu Immortals had been separated from their partners and harbored some resentment, they had all resolved to sacrifice their personal happiness for the sake of their race!
It was just that their very first encounter with Fang Yuan dealt them a tremendous blow.
The merfolk female immortals were not ignorant of Fang Yuan's appearance. Whether from the Heavenly Court or other sources, images of him had been circulating. They knew Fang Yuan was handsome and delicate, but seeing him in person still left them profoundly shaken by his beauty!
This was not merely the beauty of outward appearance. His body was saturated with dense Dao Marks, and every gesture carried the aura of the Great Dao. From the marrow of his bones emanated an extraordinary charisma, an incomparable bearing and presence that commanded admiration.
If it had been Giant Sun Immortal Venerable or Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, though they likewise possessed abundant Dao Marks, they would not have attracted the merfolk the way Fang Yuan did.
The merfolk were naturally endowed with Water Dao Marks, and Fang Yuan's Water Dao Marks numbered over two million — this created an innate affinity.
Yu Zi, as one of the two leaders, had been the most fervent advocate of offering everything they had, using their beauty and other means to bind themselves tightly to Fang Yuan.
The result was that upon seeing Fang Yuan with her own eyes, she was deeply shaken. Comparing herself to Fang Yuan, she felt like filth beside pristine clouds, quietly consumed by shame.
Lian Kexin had spent a great deal of time with Yu Zi and, having experienced this herself as well, understood the turmoil in Yu Zi's heart.