"Who are you?" Seeing that Jin Rou could not answer and just kept his silence. She was confident that this cloak, which was the highest class of them all, could not be seen through. After all, a great Blacksmith had created this just for her. But how did this young man seen through her? This may be impossible and just coincidence, but the timing was very off that she could not point and believe it as just mere coincidence. Thus, she was so bewildered that she did not dare to believe what her ears had heard a while ago.
"That's just... just guessing. Who would have thought that you really are a young lady inside that cloak?" Jin Rou, having no choices to choose, gave a timid excuse.
"Are you joking? There was no such thing that you just wildly guessed here!" This time, it was not a genderless voice, it was already a maiden's voice so captivating.
"Well..." Jin Rou did not know what to say and smiled awkwardly.
"Nevermind." The young lady took a deep breath, "It's not that I am threatening you but don't think about revealing my identity to others." She already assumed that Jin Rou knew her.
"Huh?" Jin Rou gave a confused look, "I don't know who you are."
"Hmph. You have seen through me so I assume that you also saw my face, thus you already recognized me, right? So be careful not to leak it out or else I will cut your tongue." The young lady said. She really assumed that Jin Rou already knew her based on her looks and knew her identity.
Jin Rou was more confused. He did not know who was this lady in the first place! Although he had seen her face, he did not know who she was. But seeing that this lady was serious about it, it must be something that people around should not discover, so he just nodded, "What is your name?"
After that, the young lady left without saying another word. Jin Rou then continued walking to his destination.
---
Blacksmith Guild. This was towering words hanging in the plaque of this huge and tall building. There was also a logo of a hammer and sword crossing each other. This front is so imposing that any regular cultivators would find very frightening.
As Jin Rou was inside, he first was met with a room full of sword armaments! After which, a staff approached him and smiled, greeting him, "Hello. What can we do for you, Sir?"
Jin Rou answered, "I want to take the examination for aspiring forgers." Since Jin Rou was not yet a master forger.
"Oh..." The staff lady was amused to hear this, "If that is your intention, please... this way."
Soon, Jin Rou entered a room with a pack of people. Most of them were holding a book, reading it. Some were practicing their breaths. And all of them were young, aging the oldest at 27, probably. It seemed that these people were also here to take the exam.
The staff lady said, "You came at the right time, Sir! Today, we will conduct our Apprentice Examination. If you are one bit late, you have to wait 14 days. After all, we are conducting exams every 2 weeks."
"Lucky me." Jin Rou breathed a relief that he came at the right time. After all, he could not afford to consume 2 weeks just to wait for the examination. This saved him a lot of trouble.
As he was about to find a seat, his eyes widened as he saw the young lady in black cloak who was currently having the same expression as him. Who would have thought that they had one the same destination again and again?
But the surprised expression of the young lady was immediately hidden after a short moment of exposure.
Jin Rou purposefully took a seat where the young lady was sitting and said in a low tone, "We meet again."
"Yeah." The young lady answered. She seemed uninterested.
Hearing that answer, he did not bother holding a conversation again and minded his own business.
After a long while, the young lady broke the silence and asked, "What is your name, by the way?" She realized that he did not still know what was the name of this man.
"Jin Rou." Jin Rou smiled and answered, "What about yours?"
"Don't you already know my identity?" The lady rolled her eyes. She was probably that famous to think so. But still, she answered, "Miyu Dong."
"Miyu Dong..." Jin Rou repeated it, engraving the name to his mind.
Silence.
After that exchange, their atmosphere was filled with silence again. It seemed that these two were not good at holding a conversation, or perhaps they were just awkward with each other.
Soon, someone entered the room. It was a woman, probably aging 30'. This woman was giving off a seductive aura with her twin peaks. The way she walked was also like she was melting everything in her way, leaving traces of her seductive beauty. With her long blonde hair that currently swaying because of her graceful movements. This was a stunning beauty. This was seductive that left most of the man aroused. Of course, except Jin Rou who was ignorant of the matter.
"I am Selestine. I will be your examiner to this day's Apprentice Examination. So I say, how many of you here are first timers?" The seductive woman named Selestine asked.
Blacksmith Guild's Apprentice Examination. This was the first examination and the first step of becoming a full-fledged Master Forger. But this first step is extremely difficult to pass. After all, out of 10 people who took the exam, only two would pass. And those two were already veteran in taking the Apprentice Examination. There were only a few cases where the first-timers could pass the Apprentice Examination by the first take.
Hearing this, there were five who were first-timers here, and Jin Rou was one of them and also the black-cloaked lady.
"So most of the examinees here already knew the examination, I assume?" Selestine smiled, "Very well then, for those first-timers, I will explain how this examination will work."
Hearing this, everyone was all ears to this. They will listen carefully to find some hints on how to pass the examination. They firmly believed that this will increase their chances for passing especially those who already took the examination a bunch of times.