Cen Yue

"I, I'm here for a Forging rank assessment."

Tang Wulin's voice was not actually very loud when he said this.

The sweet-looking girl behind the reception desk paused, then her smile faded a little. She did not dismiss his words as a joke just because he was a young child. Instead, she repeated her question seriously:

"You want to take a Forging rank assessment?"

Tang Wulin nodded.

"Yes."

The other girl beside her, who had a fuller figure, could not help laughing.

"Look at him. His face is all red." She tilted her head and looked Tang Wulin up and down. "Little brother, you have such pretty eyes."

Tang Wulin was already a little ill at ease. Her words made his ears grow hot too, and for a moment, he had no idea how to respond.

The sweet-looking girl gave her companion a helpless look.

"Yuanyuan, stop teasing him."

She turned back to Tang Wulin, her tone noticeably gentler.

"Little brother, where are your parents? Or did a teacher come with you?"

Tang Wulin shook his head.

"No. My teacher told me to come on my own. He said I should find a Grandmaster named Cen Yue."

At the mention of Cen Yue, both girls behind the desk grew more serious.

The sweet-looking girl immediately asked, "Did you contact Grandmaster Cen in advance through soul communication?"

Tang Wulin shook his head again.

Of course he had not.

A Soul Communicator might have been an everyday item to people in Eastsea City, but his family only had a single fixed communicator they could use. As for a portable Soul Communicator, he had hardly even seen one more than a few times. Before coming to Eastsea, he had even planned to find a coin-operated public communicator once his business was finished, so he could let his family know he was safe.

"Then please wait a moment," the sweet-looking girl said. "I'll ask whether Grandmaster Cen has time right now."

She picked up the communicator on the reception desk and placed a call.

"Grandmaster Cen, a child is here to see you. Yes, a little boy. He says Grandmaster Mang Tian sent him... yes, he has large eyes and very plain clothes. All right, I understand."

After ending the call, she looked up and smiled at Tang Wulin.

"Grandmaster Cen happens to be free. Come with me."

Tang Wulin hurriedly said, "Thank you, big sister."

"My name is Yun Xiaoling." The sweet-looking girl came around the reception desk and led the way. "You don't need to be so nervous. Grandmaster Cen's temper isn't particularly good, but he's very fair."

Tang Wulin followed obediently behind her and nodded.

After taking a few steps, Yun Xiaoling glanced back at him.

The child was indeed dressed plainly, and his backpack was old too. He seemed somewhat out of place somewhere like the association. Yet he stood straight, his gaze was clear, and he spoke politely, making it difficult to look down on him. His eyes, in particular, had a striking contrast between black and white, and stood out all the more when he looked intently at someone.

On one side of the hall, the silver-gray doors of a Soul Elevator opened soundlessly.

Tang Wulin's steps faltered slightly.

It was his first time seeing something like this so close up.

"Come on, step inside," Yun Xiaoling said gently.

Only then did Tang Wulin enter.

The elevator was quiet, with only a faint hum as it ran. Yun Xiaoling pressed the button for the fifteenth floor, then turned to him and said:

"Grandmaster Cen's office is on the fifteenth floor. I'll take you to meet him first. He'll personally take you for your rank assessment afterward."

"Mm," Tang Wulin replied. "Thank you, Sister Yun."

Yun Xiaoling smiled.

"What a sweet talker."

The elevator rose smoothly, but Tang Wulin could still feel a slight sensation of weightlessness. He did not look around. He simply stood straight, his hands hanging naturally at his sides and his backpack straps resting firmly on his shoulders.

"Ding."

They had reached the fifteenth floor.

The elevator doors opened to reveal an exceptionally clean metal corridor. The walls were silver-white, and the floor and ceiling were equally spotless. Their footsteps made almost no sound.

Tang Wulin instinctively softened his breathing.

This place was completely different from downstairs.

There were no sounds of Forging, no people coming and going, and no smell left by clashing metal. The entire floor was quiet, so quiet that anyone speaking would instinctively lower their voice.

Yun Xiaoling led him to a door and stopped. A metal nameplate on it bore a name:

Cen Yue

She raised her hand and pressed the button beside the door.

"Grandmaster Cen, it's Yun Xiaoling. I've brought the child."

A deep voice soon came from inside.

"Come in."

The door opened in response.

The office was fairly spacious, a little over thirty square meters. Tall filing cabinets stood by the window, and a large solid-wood desk occupied the center, with drawings and metal components spread across it. A middle-aged man stood behind the desk. He was not particularly tall, but his shoulders and back were broad, and his arms were thick. His shoulders and arms filled out his black shirt, making it obvious that he had spent years swinging a hammer.

He had been studying the drawings on the desk with his head lowered. Only when he heard footsteps did he look up.

His gaze was direct, landing on Tang Wulin first.

"You're Mang Tian's disciple?"

"Yes. Hello, Grandmaster Cen." Tang Wulin immediately straightened a little more and said respectfully, "My teacher asked me to give you his regards."

Cen Yue frowned.

"That fellow Mang Tian sets his sights awfully high." It was impossible to tell whether his tone was praising or criticizing him. His gaze remained on Tang Wulin. "How did he end up taking such a young disciple?"

Tang Wulin did not respond.

For one thing, he did not know how. For another, he did not dare speak carelessly.

Cen Yue clearly had no intention of waiting for an answer. He simply set the drawings in his hand down on the desk.

"Let's go," he said. "We'll do the rank assessment first."

In the eyes of a true Forging master, explanations and guesses held little meaning. Whether someone could stay would be made clear by the work of their hands.

Standing to one side, Yun Xiaoling said softly, "Grandmaster Cen, I'll head back downstairs, then."

"Mm." Cen Yue nodded.

Yun Xiaoling smiled at Tang Wulin, then turned and left first.

Tang Wulin followed Cen Yue out, and the two returned to the elevator. Yun Xiaoling happened to be inside as well. Cen Yue stepped in and pressed the button for the third floor.

The elevator began descending.

Standing to one side, Cen Yue suddenly asked, "Did Mang Tian ever tell you roughly what rank of blacksmith you are now?"

Tang Wulin shook his head.

"My teacher didn't say outright." He thought for a moment, then honestly added, "He only told me to come for the assessment. Once I pass, I'll be able to take on some simple jobs."

As soon as he said this, the atmosphere in the elevator shifted slightly.

Yun Xiaoling had been standing quietly, but now she could not help glancing at Tang Wulin.

To accept jobs, one had to be at least a rank-two blacksmith. Rank-one blacksmiths could usually only assist under a higher-ranked blacksmith. Taking jobs independently came after reaching rank two.

A nine-year-old child coming for an assessment was one thing, but coming with the aim of taking jobs meant this was no ordinary attempt to "give it a try."

Cen Yue also glanced at Tang Wulin, much of the casualness fading from his eyes.

"Then do you know the blacksmith ranking system?"

This time, Tang Wulin nodded quickly.

"Yes. My teacher told me blacksmiths have nine ranks in total. Ranks one and two are Master Rank, ranks three and four are Grandmaster Rank, ranks five and six are Master Artisan Rank, ranks seven and eight are Saint Craftsman Rank, and the highest, rank nine, is Divine Craftsman Rank."

"Mm." Cen Yue nodded. "You remember it fairly well."

The elevator soon reached the third floor.

The moment the doors opened, familiar sounds came flooding in.

"Clink, clang, bang—"

They rang out one after another, rising and falling with a distinct rhythm. Unlike the silence of the fifteenth floor, this place was much closer to the Blacksmith Association Tang Wulin had imagined.

Hearing those hammers actually put him more at ease.

"Goodbye, big sister." He said goodbye to Yun Xiaoling before following Cen Yue out.

There were more people at the third-floor reception desk than on the first floor, and traffic was heavier too. Some carried drawings, others held metal cases, and still others walked along discussing their newly finished pieces in low voices.

Cen Yue walked up to the reception desk and said directly:

"Open a testing room and call an assessor over."

The receptionist clearly knew him. She nodded immediately and handed him a form first.

"Grandmaster Cen, is this your disciple?" As she spoke, she looked at Tang Wulin, her eyes filled with curiosity. "Isn't he a little too young? Does he even look twelve?"

Cen Yue did not answer. He simply handed the form to Tang Wulin.

"Fill in your basic information first."

"Yes."

Tang Wulin accepted the form with both hands, then stood to one side and filled it out carefully.

He did not write particularly quickly, but his handwriting was neat, every stroke steady. Standing beside him, Cen Yue casually glanced at it and read aloud:

"Tang Wulin, hometown: Aolai City, nine years old, first-year student in Eastsea Academy's Intermediate Division..."

His voice stopped there.

"You're only nine?"

This time, not only Cen Yue but even the receptionist froze.

She had only thought the child looked rather young. She had never expected him to be this young.

Nine years old.

Here for a blacksmith rank assessment.

Nothing like this had happened at Eastsea City's Blacksmith Association in many years. The youngest person ever assessed had apparently been only eight and a half. And that person had long since become someone beyond the reach of ordinary blacksmiths.

As Cen Yue looked at the little boy standing quietly before him, something finally stirred within him.

If this were merely a rank-one assessment, it would be one thing.

But the child had clearly said just now that Mang Tian had sent him for an assessment so he could start accepting jobs.

Cen Yue knew exactly what that meant.

This child probably had not come to test for rank one.

The receptionist was the first to recover, and even her voice had grown softer.

"Grandmaster Cen, Test Room Three is ready. The assessor is on the way there too."

Cen Yue nodded slowly.

He put away Tang Wulin's completed form and looked at him again.

This time, his gaze no longer held only the casual scrutiny prompted by the words "Mang Tian's disciple." There was genuine seriousness in it now.

"Let's go."

He spoke.

"Let me see just what kind of child Mang Tian has trained."