Blood Demon Crown?

Blood Demon... Crown?

The moment the door opened, Lu Jun felt a soft, warm body suddenly tumble into his arms.

Gu Yue Na's silver hair spilled loose like a waterfall, carrying a faint fragrance as it brushed across his cheek.

The girl's petite body had gone completely rigid. Her amethyst-like eyes were wide as she stared straight into his.

"What... are you doing by the door?"

Lu Jun instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist, his palm feeling its slender softness.

"I... uh, I was just..."

Gu Yue Na did not know what to say for a moment.

She couldn't exactly say that she had wanted to peek at what Lu Jun was doing inside, could she?

The two remained frozen in the doorway, as though time itself had stopped.

Lu Jun could clearly feel the rapid heartbeat of the girl in his arms, as well as the slight tremble of her eyelashes.

"Ahem." Lu Jun was the first to recover. He carefully helped her stand straight. "What are you doing here?"

Gu Yue Na hurriedly smoothed down her disheveled silver hair. Several unruly strands stuck up from the top of her head, making her look just like a startled cat with raised ears.

"Teacher told me to come get you. You need to stop cultivating—it's time for you to go to the Forging Association."

"Oh, the timing really is tight."

Lu Jun felt a headache coming on and walked outside.

"There aren't any problems with forging or crafting, right?" Gu Yue Na followed him. "Are you tired?"

"I'm fine. It's just that I'm only good with ice-attribute metals..."

Thinking about the path of his Second Profession, Lu Jun felt ashamed.

His specialization was way too extreme...

As long as the metal was not ice-attribute, both forging and crafting were basically dead ends for him.

As they left the cultivation area, the lingering glow of the sunset fell over them.

Lu Jun stretched, his bones cracking crisply.

"Sometimes, I really envy you," he suddenly said, his gaze falling on Gu Yue Na. "You can get perfect scores in Mecha Design."

"As for me, as long as it has nothing to do with ice-attribute metals or components, I might as well get a zero."

Gu Yue Na lifted a hand to gather up her hair. "But everyone praises the things you forge from ice-attribute metals."

Lu Jun smiled and shook his head. "That's exactly the problem. Aside from ice-attribute metals, I can't even handle basic purification with any other metal."

"During the last assessment, the examiner asked me to forge a piece of ordinary heavy silver... I got a zero."

At that, Gu Yue Na suddenly covered her mouth, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Lu Jun spread his hands.

"If you want to laugh, go ahead."

Either zero or one hundred—there was no one else whose strengths and weaknesses were this absurdly lopsided.

"I'm sorry..." Gu Yue Na tried her best to keep a straight face. "I don't usually laugh so easily."

Leng Yulai quietly approached from afar.

"You two, I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but time is a little tight."

"You should go study Mecha Design now." Leng Yulai looked at Gu Yue Na.

"And you need to go to the Forging Association."

"Martial Aunt, you're really strict," Lu Jun remarked.

Hearing that, Leng Yulai put on a stern face.

"Cut the nonsense. I'm responsible for protecting you now, but in a way, I should thank you."

"Why?"

"Because protecting you is much easier than dealing with the Branch Tower Master's affairs." Leng Yulai shrugged.

"An easy, pleasant job where I can slack off a little—who wouldn't like that?"

"..."

The metal building of the Mingdu Forging Association gleamed with a cold radiance beneath the sunlight. The entire structure stood tall like a giant sword thrust straight into the clouds.

Lu Jun looked up. Soul Tool Runes flowed across the towering building's surface, displaying this place's authoritative status in the forging world.

Come to think of it, he still did not know who was in the Mingdu Forging Association.

He only knew that, in the original story, Douluo Continent's only God Craftsman, Zhen Hua, was at the Forging Association in Heaven Dou City.

If he could receive a God Craftsman's guidance... then his Four-Word Dou Armor would be taken care of.

Sigh, he just did not know whether he would be that lucky.

On top of that, his specialization was too extreme. Whether a God Craftsman would take a liking to him was hard to say.

"Don't be nervous." Leng Yulai seemed to notice Lu Jun's mood. She patted his shoulder, encouragement in her beautiful eyes. "Just treat it as regular practice."

They walked through the revolving doors, and a spacious, brightly lit lobby came into view.

At the central reception desk, a uniformed woman was greeting visitors with a smile.

"Hello. How may I help you two?"

The woman's voice was sweet, and her gaze lingered on Lu Jun for a few seconds longer.

It was truly rare for a child who looked no older than eight or nine to appear at the Forging Association.

Leng Yulai stepped forward.

"The Third-Level Forging Master assessment reserved last week. Candidate: Lu Jun."

The woman's smile instantly froze. Her fingers quickly swiped across the Soul Guidance Screen.

"Lu... Lu Jun? That nine-year-old child? But wasn't he last time..." She abruptly covered her mouth, then hurriedly picked up a communicator. "I'm sorry, that was improper of me. Please wait a moment. I'll report this to my superiors immediately."

"Is that really necessary?"

Lu Jun truly could not bear to look back on the past.

"I only failed the Third-Level Forging Master assessment three times, that's all..."

The more he talked about it, the more tears there were.

None of those three assessments had involved ice-attribute metals.

That led to him being thoroughly scolded by the examiners at the time.

They said that the teacher who taught him forging was being paid for nothing, that a little brat with no experience like him had come just to make trouble, and so on.

In short, everyone in the Forging Association had formed a bad impression of him.

They thought he was untalented, yet loved showing off—far too arrogant.

"Hahahaha."

Leng Yulai could not hold back her laughter.

"I heard from my sister that you made quite a joke of yourself here. Looks like it was true."

Lu Jun lowered his head.

He was too embarrassed to face anyone.

He was still very confident in his cultivation. At nine years old, Rank 31 was no exaggeration to say he could defeat ninety-nine percent of his peers.

But as for Second Professions...

Other than things related to the ice attribute, he really was hopeless.

"You two." The receptionist hurried over, her attitude much more respectful. "Please follow me. The examiner is already waiting for you."

"It won't be the same examiner as last time, will it?"

Lu Jun's mouth twitched.

He had been scolded quite badly last time. It had practically left him traumatized.

If Leng Yaozhu had not patiently persuaded him that this was something he had to go through to become a Battle Armor Master...

Then Lu Jun would rather die than forge or make Mechas again.

"Of course not. This time, the chairman himself will personally assess you," the receptionist said quietly.

"The chairman?"

Lu Jun and Leng Yulai looked at each other.

"Is it God Craftsman Zhen Hua?"

Lu Jun asked instinctively.

"...The God Craftsman is in Heaven Dou City, not here with us." Leng Yulai raised a hand and flicked Lu Jun on the forehead.

"In Mingdu, the chairman of the Forging Association is Chairman Gu Chenyu. He's an eighth-rank Saint Craftsman. Among Saint Craftsmen, he's the one most likely to approach the level of a God Craftsman."

"?"

There it was.

An unfamiliar name!

He was not from the original story, so did that not mean Lu Jun knew absolutely nothing about him?

Lu Jun looked utterly confused. After being led to the assessment site, he finally got his wish and met that unfamiliar chairman.

He was a thin, tall middle-aged man. Yet upon seeing Leng Yulai, he looked surprised.

"Eh, it's actually you, Dark Phoenix Crown. What a rare guest."

"Blood Demon Crown, sorry to trouble you." Leng Yulai smiled and spoke a name that left Lu Jun utterly stunned. Then she raised a hand and patted Lu Jun on the shoulder.

"This is my sister's disciple. He's here for the Third-Level Forging Master assessment today, so I'll leave him to you."

Lu Jun: "(_?)"

Wait.

Wait a second.

Wasn't something wrong here?

Lu Jun slowly raised his head, his expression extremely stiff. Looking at the middle-aged man, he barely restrained the urge to turn around and run.

Blood Demon... Crown?

Could this guy be the Dark Blood Demon, one of the One Emperor, Two Gods, Four Heavenly Kings of the Holy Spirit Cult?

How had he suddenly become a Saint Craftsman???