"Look! It’s Her Highness, Princess Xi! Good morning, Princess Xi!"
When someone there noticed her presence and announced it, everyone there turned to bow to her, and even the fighters on the stage stopped fighting momentarily just to bow to her.
"Morning, everybody! Please, continue what you’re doing! Don’t mind us!" Xi Meili waved at them.
"Princess Xi, are you here to fight today? There is a line of people waiting to exchange techniques with you!" One of the judges there suddenly said to her.
"Hahaha! There’s always a line!" Another judge laughed out loud.
One would expect a graceful princess like Xi Meili to avoid such things, but to one’s surprise, Xi Meili loved to fight, and she was a regular at the Ancestral Dragon Temple.
Not only that, but she also accepts a fight from anyone no matter their background. Of course, she has yet to experience a single defeat in the Ancestral Dragon Temple.
"Sorry, but I am not here to fight today. I am just showing my new friends around the city." Xi Meili said.
And then she thought of something.
She turned to look at Yuan and said, "Unless you want to try it? You don’t have to worry about getting hurt, and you get rewards if you win."
"What kind of rewards?" Yuan asked.
"From spirit stones to treasures, I guess. The spectators can bet on the match, and if you win, you get a portion of it. The fighters can even gamble their treasures in a match."
"They won’t die even if I kill them, right?" Yuan wanted confirmation.
"Yes, you don’t have to worry about hurting anyone." Xi Meili nodded.
"Okay, I will participate in a match." Yuan then agreed.
"Great! Oh, one more thing..." Xi Meili approached Yuan until her face was right beside his ears, and she whispered, "Don’t tell them you’re a human for now. Pretend you’re a dragon."
"Okay." He nodded.
"Won’t they recognize him by his smell like the guards did? They knew we were humans right away." Wang Xiuying suddenly said.
"Not everyone in this world knows the smell of humans. In fact, most of them have never seen humans before, so you’ll just smell a little funny to them. The guards are a little special because they’re trained to detect humans." Xi Meili said.
"S-Smell funny? I don’t think I like how that sounds..." Wang Xiuying said.
"It’s not a bad smell— at least I don’t think so. I even think you smell pretty nice, especially Yuan. You have a unique smell that gives me a pleasant feeling whenever I smell it." Xi Meili said with a smile on her face.
"Judges! My friend here would like to participate in a match!" Xi Meili then said to one of the judges.
"Oh? Sure! Which stage would he like to fight in?" One of the judges then asked.
"What do you think, Yuan? Do you want to fight as a Spirit Grandmaster? You can even fight as a Spirit Master or Spirit Warrior."
"I’d like to fight as a Spirit Master," Yuan said, as he was more familiar with his own strength as a Spirit Master than a Spirit Grandmaster.
"Judge! Spirit Master!" Xi Meili then relayed his response to one of the judges.
"Go to stage number seven. He can go after this fight." The judge then said to her.
Although there were people in line, who would dare make the Dragon Princess wait? The fighters didn’t voice any complaints either, as they were used to this favoritism for her.
"Thank you."
Thus, they began waiting for the fighters on the stage to finish their fight.
"Purple Dragon Fist!"
"Iron Dragon Claws!"
Boom!
A ripple of spiritual energy swept the area as these two fighters’ techniques collided.
"Ah!"
One of the fighters flew off the arena a second later.
"Match ends! The winner is Long Yanjun!" The judge announced.
"Do you want to continue fighting?" The judge then asked the fighter.
"Who is my next opponent?" He asked.
The judge pointed to Yuan, who was standing beside Xi Meili.
"The Dragon Princess’s friend."
"Oh? Princess Xi’s friend? Now that’s something you don’t see every day." Long Yanjun smiled before nodding his head.
"Alright! I’ll fight him as well!"
"Come on the stage, young man!" The judge said to Yuan.
Yuan nodded and approached the stage.
Many spectators that had been spectating the other stages suddenly left their stage to spectate Yuan’s match, as they did not recognize him, and they were curious about his capabilities, especially since he was Xi Meili’s friend.
"Does anyone recognize him? I don’t think I have seen him before." One of the spectators asked out of curiosity.
"I don’t recognize him either."
"Me neither."
"First time seeing him as well."
"Does nobody here know him? How is that possible?"
Although the Ancient Dragon City is as big as an entire continent, it was by no means a big place, especially when everyone could live for thousands of years with ease, so most of the people in this world already know each other one way or another.
Therefore, it was incredibly rare for someone to remain as a nobody, especially if that person is a friend of the Dragon Princess, one of the most recognized individuals in this world.
"What’s your name? I’m Long Yanjun." The fighter on the stage introduced himself.
"You can call me Yuan," he responded.
"Yuan? I haven’t heard of you before. Where did you come from?" Long Yanjun asked him.
"Uhhh... The Dragon Essence Temple?" Yuans said.
"Dragon Essence Temple? I have never heard of this place." Long Yanjun raised his eyebrows.
"Y-Yeah... It’s a pretty small place so not many people know it. It’s also in a secluded area very far away from this place." Yuan gave him an excuse, trying his best to act like he’s from this world.
"I see... Well, best of luck to you." Long Yanjun clasped his hands and bowed to Yuan in a respectful manner.
"Yes, good luck to you as well." Yuan followed his movements and returned the bow.