Mao Twelve laughed heartily and exchanged a few pleasantries.
When he turned to look at the Mermaid Immortalesses, he saw that they appeared dazed, and some of the Gu Immortals even had tears glistening in their eyes.
Mao Twelve was slightly startled and hurriedly said, "Fellow Immortal friends, did I somehow give offense..."
Before he could finish, Lian Kexin cut in, "Fellow Immortal Mao Twelve, there's no need for concern. It's just that seeing inside this Supreme Immortal Aperture — whether humans, or Ink Folk, or Stone Folk, Snow Folk, and others — all living together in harmony, treated equally, with equal status, in such close fellowship..."
"To be honest, I've never witnessed such a scene. I never even dared to imagine that a place like this could exist in this world!"
Mao Twelve fell silent.
He had once been a member of the Langya Sect. Although the Langya Blessed Land was extremely well-hidden, he was well aware of how low the status of variant humans was across the Five Regions and Two Heavens — how they merely clung to survival under human oppression.
Putting himself in their shoes — in the Eastern Sea, the Mermaid Royal Court had always been surrounded by human super-powers, facing survival pressure far greater than that of the Hairy Folk of the Langya Sect.
The scene before them in Star Luo City was utterly mundane, yet the impact it had on the Mermaid Immortalesses was incredibly powerful.
In that very moment, every single Mermaid Immortal formed a similar thought.
Even if the environment of the Supreme Immortal Aperture became ten times more chaotic and ten times more dangerous, they would still want to survive here!
"Perhaps this is where our true home lies!" Yu Zi murmured.
"The life here is truly wonderful." Lian Kexin sighed deeply.
"I finally understand now the profound meaning of Great Love. Our Lord truly deserves the title of Great Love Immortal Venerable. Heavenly Court and Longevity Heaven are simply detestable. Whether it's Star Constellation Immortal Venerable or Giant Sun Immortal Venerable, neither can compare to our Lord in the slightest!" One of the Mermaid Immortalesses spoke of Fang Yuan, her expression and tone gradually becoming fervent.
Mao Twelve raised his thumb and declared proudly, "Among all the Venerables throughout history, our Lord's magnanimity is unmatched! Blessed Land Immortal Venerable saw our Lord's potential and entrusted his entire legacy to him — that was inevitable. No one else was worthy. Only by following our Lord can we have any hope of happiness. Since you've come to deeply recognize this, then from now on, give everything you have to protect this place — because you'd be protecting your own happy lives!"
The Mermaid Immortalesses nodded repeatedly, and several of them shed tears of emotion.
After composing herself, Tang Qiong asked, "I wonder what marvels this branch hall holds?"
Mao Twelve let out an "ah," and his expression grew complicated.
It held pride and arrogance, mingled with excitement and fervor, and even a trace of fear.
Even with the thick fur covering Mao Twelve's face, it couldn't conceal the emotions playing across it at that moment.
This only made the Mermaid Immortalesses even more curious.
Then they heard Mao Twelve explain, "This was originally a grand formation called the Ganming Formation, but recently our Lord has modified it into an Immortal Gu House."
"The effects are excellent — extremely practical!" As he spoke, Mao Twelve gave another thumbs up.
Then, looking at the Mermaid Immortalesses with a meaningful tone, he added, "You will definitely make use of it in the future!"
After Mao Twelve's more detailed introduction, the Ganming Immortal Gu House left a deep impression on the Mermaid Immortalesses.
There was nothing left to introduce about Star Luo City, so Mao Twelve led the Mermaid Immortalesses down from the Minor Nine Heavens.
The group arrived at the Minor Eastern Sea, hovering in midair and looking down at the ocean below.
Waves rolled endlessly, and sea breezes blew gently.
Mao Twelve said, "This is the territory our Lord has designated for your group of Mermaids — the place where you will live and reproduce from now on."
The Mermaid Gu Immortals immediately activated their various scouting methods to survey the ocean environment.
To their pleasant surprise, this stretch of sea contained abundant ordinary Gu materials, though they were distributed chaotically with no discernible pattern. Moreover, many of the materials were mutually corrosive, caught in a state of decay and depletion.
The root cause of this situation was the Dao Marks within the Supreme Immortal Aperture.
The Supreme Immortal Aperture contained an enormous number of Dao Marks, which naturally gave rise to vast quantities of Gu materials. But because the Dao Marks did not repel one another, anomalous phenomena occurred frequently, the distribution of Gu materials became chaotic, and their states were highly unstable.
"This is a map of the Five Regions and Two Heavens — the version from three days ago. Consider it a gift from me to all of you." Mao Twelve rubbed his fingers together, and a mortal Information Path Gu flew out.
"A version from three days ago?" Yu Zi was quick to catch that.
"Yes." Mao Twelve nodded and explained, "Because anomalous phenomena occur so frequently, the terrain changes dramatically in many places. On top of that, our Lord periodically establishes resource points and absorbs Blessed Lands and Grotto-Heavens, so the map of the Five Regions and Two Heavens is constantly changing and needs to be updated regularly."
Yu Zi probed it with her divine sense and immediately exclaimed, "It's this big?!"
Her cry drew the attention of the other Mermaid Immortalesses — it was rare to see Grand Elder Yu Zi so flustered.
Mao Twelve smiled with a hint of pride and said, "The Supreme Immortal Aperture was originally vast in space, reaching five hundred million mu. After our Lord's frequent aperture absorptions, tribulations, and other events, the space has now expanded over a hundredfold, exceeding fifty billion mu!"
The other Mermaid Immortalesses heard this news and their faces went blank with shock.
Mao Twelve laughed once more. "Don't worry — it'll only get bigger in the future. Even if one day the Supreme Immortal Aperture surpasses the Five Regions and Two Heavens, none of us would be surprised!"
"I've already marked the boundaries of your territory on the map."
"My task ends here, but if any of you have needs, you can reach me through this mortal Information Path Gu."