Yasenia finished by saying. "I won't care about unrelated people leaving, and even if you want to leave later, I won't tie you down under certain conditions. However, once you snuggle below my wing and become part of my power, what I hate with my very soul is betrayal, and punishment for it will be beyond anything you can imagine. Therefore, take your time and think if you'll stay or not."
Yasenia then stopped speaking and silently looked at them.
The harpies looked at each other and got thoughtful. Yasenia's way of presenting was strange, to say the least.
Until now, whenever these experienced women entered a house, clan, or power, they would always hear their place was perfect, with pristine walls and deep connections.
Yet, Yasenia told them many negative things and some unbelievable statements. Although they were naturally attracted to Yasenia's appearance, none of the three hundred harpies present were stupid to be swayed by it.
Ghana chose them by hand, after all. Each of them had critical thinking ability and decision-making.
Yasenia didn't speak and looked around, waiting for the ones who wanted to leave and were unconvinced. Yasenia could have told them many of their advantages in more detail, and she was sure that they would follow her with loyalty.
However, for the first batch, she wanted people who liked to gamble yet had a sense of ambition while also thinking things through.
The dragoness threw various hints in her speech that would attract their attention, so if they didn't leave, it meant that they were either confident in her or Ghana's vision.
Either option was good.
After ten minutes of waiting, all of them stood in their place. Yasenia was satisfied and revealed the first honest smile. "All of you stayed. I didn't expect something like this."
One of the harpies shouted. "Matriarch, if we can see you daily, even dying is worth it!"
The harpies laughed, and another shouted. "That's right! If Matriarch sets a group bath session, we'll follow you even if you decide to fight the thirty-three clans!"
Yasenia raised her eyebrow and chuckled. "That suggestion, I'll think about it."
"Really?"
Yasenia nodded. "Once we get comfortable with each other, I don't mind sharing a bath."
"Woohoo!"
"Matriarch, you are the most beautiful!"
"Matriarch, you are the sexiest!"
Yasenia rolled her eyes and spoke. "Okay, enough ruckus. Let's get to serious work."
Yasenia stopped speaking and waited for the harpies to get silent.
Then, she continued calmly, her face regaining the previous seriousness. "Since all of you have decided to join me, we must divide you into groups and understand your strengths."
Yasenia pointed behind her and commented. "Those six women behind me are masters in each of their crafts. They are comparable to those in the top twenty of the Nine-sects. Not to mention, they may surpass even those people soon."
Exclamations were heard from the girls."
Yasenia said. "The professions they dominate are the following. Alchemy and everything related to medicine, spirit plant gardening, blacksmithing, formations, tailoring, and cooking."
Yasenia said. "Naturally, we'll need a powerful force to defend ourselves, so one of them is also an expert hunter with wide beast-related knowledge and high strength."
Yasenia saw many harpies frown, and she stated. "Those who don't fall into any of these categories, don't worry. We have books, jade slips, and other learning tools of every profession and an all-rounder with basic knowledge in most professions."
Andrea and the other girls looked at Tatyana and rolled their eyes. 'If what she knows is basic knowledge, then we are nothing more than ignorant people!'
Yasenia turned around and ordered. "Separate to allow them to surround you."
They all flashed and stood in various corners of the harpy group. Only Sierra and Ebirah didn't move and stood beside Yasenia.
Yasenia then ordered. "Those who know how to do alchemy, medicine, poison, gardening, or anything related to spirit plants and their concoction line up in front of the fox woman."
"Those with tailoring skills line up before the blue-haired and violet-eyed human woman."
"Those who know forging or anything related to blacksmithing, mineral gathering, or mineral science line up before the tallest and tanned human woman."
"Those who know formations or anything to do with it, like creating [Formation Ink] or [Formation Cores], line up before the blonde human woman."
"Those who focus on strength, combat skills, hunting, beast studying, and related skills line up before the silver Phoenix woman."
"Those with administration, intelligence gathering, planning, management, and everything related line up before the black-haired red-eyed woman."
"Finally, those with other skills besides the mentioned ones, no matter which skill, line up before me."
"I want all of you to queue from youngest to oldest and stand in a single-person line."
As soon as Yasenia stopped speaking, all the harpies began fluttering around.
Soon, seven orderly lines appeared, each before one of our girls.
Before Kali, there were five harpies. One of them looked very young, while the other four looked like middle-aged women. Well, beautiful middle-aged women.
Andrea saw three harpies stand before herself. There weren't any young harpies with her.
In front of Angel, there were seven of them. The age range was relatively lower compared with the other two groups.
Then, before Evelyn, there were ten of them. Following the trend, they were not young or old.
Things changed when looking at Cecile's group. Most of the three hundred harpies lined up before her. The age range varied, but they leaned more toward the older side.
The reason was apparent: the older a person was, the more combat experience and higher cultivation level.
It wasn't always the case, but besides those occasional geniuses that can surmount realms, a person's cultivation strength followed this trend.
Cecile got almost one hundred and fifty harpies—half of the ones that came here.
Tatyana's group was also relatively numerous. There were around seventy harpies before her, leaning toward the younger side. Naturally, some of them were on the older side. Ghana was in this group near the back of the line. Her age wasn't small, after all.
Finally, in front of Yasenia stood the remaining fifty harpies. Yasenia observed the groups and strangely perceived that her group had the most beautiful harpies. However, she soon understood why so she didn't say anything.
Yasenia nodded. "Good. You've all been orderly and didn't interfere with others. Just this deserves praise. Still, I'll warn all of you. I hope the group you've chosen is what you want to do in the future. Changing groups will be possible, but entering those groups later won't be easy. The positions in each group will be related to achievements and judgment from the superiors, after all."
Yasenia then spoke calmly but with a chill in her tone. "If I hear about someone abusing their power in the future, they'll be directly killed once proven right, depending on the offense. The opposite is also true. If a person tries to incriminate their superiors wrongly, there will also be a death penalty in the worst-case scenario."
The harpies felt goosebumps from the cold voice and hastily nodded.
Yasenia relaxed her tone and aura and continued. "Now, the person in front of each lane will be your direct superior. You'll only answer to them and me. As the Matriarch, my words are of the highest status. Nevertheless, you must not ignore their words and always ask if the orders contradict. I won't punish people who ask and take their tasks seriously. Only if you intend to have your work resolved through questions will there be a problem."
The three hundred women nodded again. Yasenia clarified. "Further code-conducts, way of reporting, and many other details will be explained. Therefore, don't worry. I'll tell all of you this. In my clan, the worst kind of people are liars. Honesty is required, even if you messed up a job."
"You'll be more heavily punished if you messed something up and hide it than hastily reporting it and searching for ways to correct it. Confessing sins and mistakes will reduce the penalties within a reasonable limit. There won't be loopholes since the judges will be me and my direct subordinates. So don't try to be a smartass."
Yasenia looked at Tatyana and the others and said calmly. "Use the next three hours to get to know them. If you find any of them lacking, having a bad attitude, or being suspicious, send them to me. Also, write a comprehensive report of what you learned while noting their name, age, cultivation level, relationship status, and other important matters. Avoid the most private questions, but what it's needed to be known, it must be said. I trust you know how to do so."
They all nodded.
Yasenia smiled and moved with her group to the side, separating from the others.
Ebirah moved her little legs to Andrea's side while Sierra slowly walked toward Evelyn.
Yasenia turned around and took out a jade slip to note everything down.
Then, she looked at the first in line, an eighteen-year-old-looking girl. She had red feathers, a cute face, and a short and slender body.
Yasenia observed her starry eyes and pink cheeks, thinking this cute harpy was very eager.
Yasenia coughed and asked. "What is your specialty, name, age, cultivation Realm, cultivation level, and what do you want to work as."
The cute harpy smiled widely and spoke. "I'm a gem embedding expert. My name is Grata. Thirty-eight years old. Low-level Spiritual King. I want to work as a gem embedder and create powerful and cute accessories for my sisters and the Matriarch! Also…" The girl blushed and spoke. "I want to be the Matriarch's bed warmer!"
Yasenia didn't flinch and nodded. "Well, that last thing is impossible, but you can do the rest. Step to the left. Next."
The harpy blinked twice and pouted. However, she was obedient and moved aside.
Yasenia continued accepting, and the thirty-ninth harpy made Yasenia's eyes glint.
The next harpy was a voluptuous and very beautiful one. It looked as if her body was made of water because of the jiggling nature of it, and her watery dark eyes could intoxicate with one glance.
She was definitively one of the most beautiful people Yasenia had ever seen.
The woman smiled and spoke with a charming and tender voice. "I'm a sex worker. Seventy-nine years old. High-level Spirit King cultivator. My name is Gala. I want to keep my line of work."
Yasenia nodded without a change of face and commented. "Step to the left with the other harpies. Next."
Yasenia continued checking their professions and found out the following.
Half of them were sex workers—a total of twenty-five harpies.
Ten had exotic professions: five spirit cooks, a talisman master, a jewelry master, an architect focused on living materials, a gem embedder, and a gardener.
'Why is the gardener here? Didn't I tell them to go to Kali? Well, never mind.'
The other fifteen knew art, music, and other entertainment-related skills.
Yasenia had separated them into three groups. The first group was the craftsmen, the second group was the entertainers, and the third was the sex workers.
Yasenia saw the nervous faces of the sex workers and said softly. "Don't worry. You are not less valuable than any of the others. Let me deal with the others first, and I'll make a proposal to all of you."
They all sighed in relief and nodded, looking at Yasenia with new admiring eyes.
They could feel that she really didn't look down on them, so they were happy.
Yasenia smiled at them and walked toward the other two groups.