Hard Requirements for Application

The tiger's roar, which seemed to ring right in her ears, left Lin Fei's mind a blank as she sat dazed on the ground.

Sigh... to trip at a time like this, when we were just about to leave the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Otto was full of complaints, but upon seeing his disciple's expression, he swallowed the words back down.

With a crisis at hand, blame was meaningless.

Furthermore, Lin Fei was the daughter of the Black Rock City lord; as her teacher, he had to weigh his words carefully before speaking.

The biggest problem now was how to escape from the tiger's maw.

Otto was a nine-star Dou Grandmaster, only a hair's breadth away from breaking through to Dou Ling, but his skills were geared more toward alchemy, and he was far weaker in combat.

Facing a Tier 4 Red-Striped Tiger, Otto weighed the situation and estimated that he would be defeated in no more than three moves.

At best, he would be severely injured; at worst, he would die.

They were so close to the edge of the Magical Beast Mountain Range—would there be a chance to run into other mercenaries?

The thought flashed through Otto's mind, but he immediately extinguished it.

Mercenaries? They would likely be running for their lives the moment they saw a Tier 4 Red-Striped Tiger.

Was he truly going to die here today?

Eh? Wait a moment...

Suddenly, Otto noticed the Red-Striped Tiger's body trembling incessantly as it slowly pressed itself against the ground, its ferocious expression fading away.

What is going on? Why do I feel like it's... afraid?

The thought that flashed through his mind left even Otto stunned.

What virtue or ability do I possess that could make a Tier 4 magical beast feel fear?

"Hey, old man, run!"

Otto suddenly heard a voice. He turned his head to see a figure scoop up Lin Fei and dash rapidly toward the outside of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Run!

Otto reacted in an instant. Putting aside his confusion, he followed closely behind.

The two figures, one after the other, quickly vanished from the Red-Striped Tiger's sight.

It still dared not move.

Whoosh!

A streak of purple flame fell from high above and slammed into the Red-Striped Tiger.

"Little brother, thank you."

A kilometer or two away from the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Otto looked at Xiao Yu with immense gratitude.

"Don't mention it, I just lent a hand. But you two—facing a Red-Striped Tiger without fighting back or running, are you tired of living?"

Xiao Yu's remark made Otto's old face flush with shame, while Lin Fei beside him kept her head lowered, worried that the embarrassment on her face would be seen.

She had been held in Xiao Yu's arms the entire time, and after recovering from the shock, she had been staring at him.

From his features, Lin Fei could easily tell that he was a younger brother, even younger than herself.

Yet, this little brother had the courage to face the magical beast and escape, while she had been scared senseless.

He shouldn't have noticed.

Thinking back to being held by Xiao Yu, Lin Fei suddenly felt guilty; because she had faced death so closely for the first time, she hadn't been able to control herself and had wet herself in fear.

"Lin Fei? Lin Fei?"

Hearing her teacher call her name, the distracted Lin Fei looked up, revealing a pretty face so flushed it seemed ready to drip blood.

Otto frowned. "Thanks to this little brother Xiao Yu for saving you, can you not even say thank you?"

"Thank you for saving me."

Lin Fei looked at Xiao Yu, but upon meeting his handsome, sunny face, she hurriedly lowered her head after a brief glance.

"Xiao Yu, Lin Fei isn't usually like this. She was probably just terrified by the Red-Striped Tiger today."

Otto sighed, explaining on behalf of his disciple.

As the city lord's daughter, Lin Fei was very particular about etiquette; this was the first time he had seen her lose her composure like this.

Xiao Yu didn't mind. The reason he had chosen to come down and save them was simply because he had discovered that this woman met the system's requirements.

After a brief conversation with Otto, he already knew their identities.

"Xiao Yu, you are looking for the Alchemist Guild? Is there something you need?" Otto changed the subject.

"A bit of private business."

Before Xiao Yu left Wutan City, Ya Fei had told him that if he wanted to apply for an Alchemist Guild branch to be stationed in a city, he needed to speak with the local Alchemist Guild president.

He remembered that the Alchemist Guild president of Black Rock City was not named Otto, so he did not disclose the details.

"As it happens, Black Rock City has one. I am an alchemist there, so why don't you come with us?"

Otto had no intention of prying, thinking to himself that if it were some private matter, he would see if he could help when the time came; Xiao Yu had saved his life, and he could not forget such a debt.

"That's right, Xiao Yu. You saved me, and I will have my father thank you."

Having calmed down, Lin Fei also extended an invitation.

Xiao Yu simply wanted to find a city with an Alchemist Guild, so he naturally would not refuse.

Not long after, the three of them arrived in Black Rock City.

Lin Fei invited Xiao Yu to her home, saying she wanted to thank him, but Xiao Yu declined because he wanted to resolve the Alchemist Guild matter first.

He followed Otto all the way to the Alchemist Guild.

"I am Frank, the president of the Black Rock City Alchemist Guild. Otto told me you were looking for me. Little brother, I don't believe we have met before, have we?"

An old man walked into the room accompanied by Otto and looked at the youth sitting in the chair.

Xiao Yu stood up and smiled. "This is our first meeting, President Frank."

Frank asked curiously, "What is it you need from me?"

His brows furrowed slightly; if not for his relationship with Otto, as the president, he was not someone just anyone could see whenever they pleased.

"President Frank, I would like to apply for an Alchemist Guild branch for Wutan City."

Xiao Yu went straight to the point.

"Apply for a branch?"

Frank looked surprised and turned to look at Otto, his expression turning troubled.

Before coming to see Xiao Yu, Otto had told him that Xiao Yu had saved his life, and if the request Xiao Yu made wasn't too troublesome, he hoped Frank would agree to it as much as possible, even if there were some losses, which Otto was willing to cover out of his own pocket.

However, applying for an Alchemist Guild branch was no small matter.

The Alchemist Guild was an organization oriented toward alchemists. Usually, before selecting a city, there were strict requirements, and the city had to undergo an audit to ensure it met the conditions.

The first condition was the city's economic strength. Economy represented popularity, and the Alchemist Guild usually purchased various medicinal herbs to facilitate the alchemists' work.

If a city had no people, setting up an Alchemist Guild would be completely useless.

The second was the guild president; generally, the president of an Alchemist Guild branch had to be at least a Tier 3 Alchemist.

Under normal circumstances, they would not specifically arrange for a Tier 3 Alchemist to be stationed there.

Simply put, if you wanted to apply for an Alchemist Guild branch for your city, the prerequisite was that you had the strength of a Tier 3 Alchemist.

"President Frank, take a look at this."

Xiao Yu took out the badge representing the identity of Pill King Gu He.

From Frank's reaction, he knew that applying for a branch was somewhat troublesome, so he did not mince words.

"This is Pill King Gu He's badge! How do you have this?"

Taking the item Xiao Yu handed over, Frank was stunned.

Pill King Gu He was the most famous alchemist in the Jia Ma Empire in recent years, and he was also the pride of their Black Rock City.

After all, Pill King Gu He had once walked out of their very own Black Rock City.

And this badge represented Pill King Gu He's identity, which was equivalent to having Pill King Gu He act as a guarantor.

"President Frank, with this, there shouldn't be any problem applying for a branch, right?"

Xiao Yu asked.

He was not clear about the significance of the badge, but since Yun Yun had given it to him, it certainly had to be of some use.

However.

Frank shook his head and said, "Little brother, with this badge, the city assessment procedure can indeed be skipped, but there is still one hard requirement for applying for an Alchemist Guild branch for a city."