The youth with an ashen-blue face hurriedly shushed them. “You two, keep your voices down! Do you think anyone would show up if truth got out? Besides, we look a lot like Humans. This whole matchmaking thing isn’t really about matchmaking!”
“Ah? Not for matchmaking? Then what for?” Fa Hua couldn’t help asking.
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Tie Yiran, from the Burrowing Clan. Are you two from out of town? You’re not from Wild Monster City, are you?”
Burrowing Clan? Armadillo Demon?
Lan Ge said, “Yes, we’re from out of town. We only just arrived in Wild Monster City today.”
Tie Yiran brightened. “Then that explains it. These two Princesses are famous in Wild Monster City. Look—the one with the large apricot-yellow flower is First Princess Hu Jiaojiao, and the one with the pink flower is Second Princess Hu Rourou. When His Highness the Demon King named them, he must have had his reasons, but who would have guessed it would backfire!”*
(T/N: Jiaojiao implies delicacy or pampered softness, while Rourou suggests tenderness and gentleness.)
This Burrowing Clan youth seemed to have finally found someone to vent to. Once he started talking, he couldn’t stop.
“The two princesses inherited His Highness the Demon King’s violent temperament. They’re said to possess the most warlike Golden Bloodline in the entire history of the Tiger Clan.
At six, they were already going out to rob people because the pocket money His Highness gave them wasn’t enough. At eight, they challenged the guards. By twelve, they had fought their way across Wild Monster City, sending Demons flying and Nymphs scattering wherever they went. His Highness once tried to send them to other main cities to study, but they were sent back in less than a month. You know the reason.”
“When the two Princesses turned sixteen, things really got out of hand. Only then did the Demon King restrain them, keeping them in the City Lord’s Mansion and forbidding them to go out until they could break through to Tenth-Rank.”
Hearing this, Fa Hua asked, “May I ask how old the two Princesses are this year?”
Tie Yiran said, “Eighteen!”
Lan Ge looked up at the high platform. They could now vaguely make out the faces of the two Princesses—truly… dignified. Or perhaps resolute.
“So this Martial Matchmaking is…?” Fa Hua continued.
Tie Yiran smiled wryly. “The only thing His Highness the Demon King worries about is the lifelong affairs of the two Princesses. So after they were forbidden to leave the City Lord’s Mansion to challenge others, they came up with this plan. They told His Highness they wanted to select husbands, but the premise was that the candidates’ strength had to match theirs. They said they would cast a wide net and cultivate each candidate to seek the world’s talents. His Highness happily agreed. But in fact, of the four characters in Martial Matchmaking*, only the first two are things the Princesses actually want to do. They’re just looking for people to beat up. This is already the third match this year.”
(T/N: Martial Matchmaking translates the four-character phrase 比武招亲, which literally means “to seek a spouse through a martial contest.” They are interested in the first two characters (fighting) and have no real interest in the last two (marriage))
Lan Ge laughed. “You’ve told me so much, brother. With all that experience, did you participate in the earlier Martial Matchmakings?”
Tie Yiran looked depressed. “Of course I did. I participated in the first one.”
Lan Ge asked, “Then why didn’t you take part in the second, and now come to this third?”
Tie Yiran glanced at him. “Because I was beaten so badly in the first that I only recently recovered from my injuries. Because I’m more resilient, they caught me again under the pretense of letting the Princesses have a retest, but actually they just wanted to beat me up again. So, you two—prepare yourselves mentally.”
Hearing this, Lan Ge was not alarmed but pleased. “So you mean the Princesses only want someone to spar with, not to get married?”
Tie Yiran nodded, looking at him somewhat surprised. “What? You don’t seem worried?”
Lan Ge said earnestly, “Be satisfied. If it’s not real matchmaking, getting beaten—what’s the problem?”
Tie Yiran widened his eyes. “What you say… actually makes sense.”
Lan Ge thought to himself: More than right—if one actually married either of them, it would mean being beaten for life.
Fa Hua said, “Tie brother, what cultivation level do the two Princesses have now?”
Tie Yiran’s expression turned serious. “On this point, you have to admire them. Though they’re aggressive, they don’t rely on His Highness the Demon King’s name. They’re truly formidable in their own right. The two are only eighteen, yet already Ninth-Rank Experts. Even in Wild Monster City, there aren’t many who reached that level at their age.”
Fa Hua and Lan Ge exchanged a glance. Both saw the shock in the other’s eyes.
They were both twenty-three this year and at the Eighth Rank. Among Humans, they already considered themselves absolute elites, comparable even to the Child of Darkness, Bei Yue Shangchen. But these two—eighteen, and already Ninth Rank. How could they possibly measure up?
This made them feel the gap between humans and the Demons even more keenly. No wonder they had dominated the whole Ice Age!
This is a good chance to improve combat experience, Fa Hua told Lan Ge in his heart.
Mm. Let’s also see how powerful the Demon Race can be. This Tiger Clan Princess has a Golden Bloodline and is Ninth-Rank. One-on-one we definitely don’t stand a chance. Two-on-one, we can try.
They knew about the Golden Bloodline. As early as the Ice Age, the Demon and Nymphs’ Golden Bloodlines had been awe-inspiring. Only the purest royal lines of the major Demon Race and Nymph Race could inherit the Golden Bloodline—and not all clans had it, only the especially powerful ones.
The Golden Bloodline was extremely powerful, giving an overwhelming advantage at the same rank and producing a trembling effect across bloodline levels.
“Is that all? Is this supposed to be satisfying?” A mighty voice rang out from the high platform.
It was Grand Princess Hu Jiaojiao speaking.
Hu Jiaojiao stood with her hands on her hips atop the platform, her presence domineering.
Beside her, Hu Rourou snorted coldly. Her voice was slightly hoarse but magnetic. “Exactly. Just a couple of little kittens—not even enough to crack a tooth.”
Fa Hua and Lan Ge felt their hearts twitch. Was this Martial Matchmaking… or eating people?
“No way, my hands are itching. Let’s start!” As she spoke, Hu Jiaojiao suddenly leapt from the high platform and landed heavily on the ground below.
The young talents waiting for the Martial Matchmaking hurriedly retreated, fearing they would be chosen first.
“You—yes, you. I remember you. You’re not bad! You can take a beating. Come!” As soon as Hu Jiaojiao landed, she roared. Standing over two meters tall, she truly looked like a Tiger General.
The direction she pointed with her raised hand was right beside Fa Hua and Lan Ge—the Burrowing Clan youth Tie Yiran, who had been enthusiastically recounting the Princesses’ “virtues.”
Tie Yiran trembled all over. Seeing the crowd instantly make distance from him, he could only grit his teeth and say, “Your Highness.”
Hu Jiaojiao beckoned with a finger. “Come on. Let’s see how long you can hold out today.”
Tie Yiran did not dare disobey. His body trembled as he shouted, “Iron Armor!”
Immediately, his previously unremarkable body bulged. A long, thick tail shot out from his back, and the surface of his skin was instantly covered with a heavy layer of iron-gray scales. His entire body became noticeably more burly.
Fa Hua and Lan Ge weren’t very skilled at judging Demon Race ranks, but from the aura Tie Yiran gave off, he too was an Eighth-Rank Expert.
Eighth-Rank Demon Expert!
“Hahaha! Come, come, come!” Hu Jiaojiao laughed loudly, took a step forward, and charged straight at Tie Yiran.
Her speed didn’t seem fast, but that single pounce left Fa Hua and Lan Ge, standing not far away, gasping.
This tiger pounce carried a sense of inevitability, as if escape were impossible.
Hu Jiaojiao’s massive hands, like palm fans, swung straight at Tie Yiran!
Tie Yiran suddenly bent forward, lashed his long tail against the ground, and sprang upward. Curling in midair like a great iron ball, he slammed into Hu Jiaojiao. A shimmer of iron-gray light burst forth, and his qi-and-blood surged with a solemn weight, as heavy as a mountain.
Fa Hua and Lan Ge noticed that as his scales bristled and stood upright, his qi-and-blood fluctuations surged. This fighting method was clearly different from that of Humans—those bristling scales were undoubtedly his strongest weapon.
Hu Jiaojiao showed no intention of dodging. Her tiger palms were shrouded in golden light, and the character King faintly appeared on her forehead.
“Boom—”
The heavy strike sounded like the earth itself was shaking.
Fa Hua and Lan Ge watched with wide eyes as the bristling scales on Tie Yiran’s body were flattened exactly where the tiger palm struck. His body was instantly flung backward, flying dozens of meters before crashing to the ground. Yet it seemed full of elasticity—no sooner had he hit the earth than he rebounded, dispersing most of the impact.
Even so, how terrifying must the force behind Hu Jiaojiao’s palms be to produce such an effect?
“Roar—” Hu Jiaojiao grew even more excited, letting out a tiger roar as she lunged again.
Suspended in midair, Tie Yiran’s iron-armored body suddenly steadied, then began to spin rapidly, like a storm of steel.
As Hu Jiaojiao closed in, the tail that had been curled inward suddenly whipped out, striking toward her.
This blow was clearly fully charged. Combined with the high-speed rotation of his body, the snapping tail produced a sharp air explosion. The iron-gray light it kicked up spread five meters outward, sealing off every direction Hu Jiaojiao might dodge.
“Good timing!” Hu Jiaojiao paused for an instant, then leapt powerfully into the air. Her arms spread wide as her two tiger claws shot out, each forming five extremely sharp, blade-like talons.
These talons were translucent, shining with golden light, as if forged from pure energy.
From the high platform, Hu Rourou let out a tiger shout, “Sister, go!”