Alchemist Guild

"Xiao Fan..."

"You still want my..." Zi Yan pointed at her own mouth and said to Xiao Fan.

Xiao Fan immediately covered Zi Yan's mouth. "This matter is not to be mentioned again. Not now, not ever!"

"Grr..." Zi Yan pouted, thinking to herself, Xiao Fan's strength had clearly improved so much, yet he still wouldn't let me say it...

"Stop! This is the Alchemist Guild. Please present your Alchemist certification!"

Xiao Fan had already grown accustomed to the guards opening with that line.

Shaking his head without saying much, he raised a hand, and a flame sprang to life in his palm.

"Condensed real flame!" The guard's expression changed, and he immediately adopted a different attitude. "Sir, are you here to take the Alchemist certification examination?"

"Yes." Xiao Fan nodded.

"Then please come in, sir..." The guard hesitated as he looked at Zi Yan in Xiao Fan's arms.

"She's just my little sister..."

Zi Yan's tiny ears twitched almost imperceptibly. Looking at the bite mark she had left, she suddenly wanted to add another bite...

"Oh, then please enter, sir. Master Frank is overseeing today's Alchemist examination." As a guard of the Alchemist Guild, he naturally had some discernment. After informing his companion, he promptly led Xiao Fan into the guild with great respect.

"Sir, the examination area is just ahead."

Xiao Fan did not stand on ceremony. He handed the man a second-tier Healing Pill, and the guard treated it like a priceless treasure, thanking him again and again.

There were personnel in the Alchemist Hall specifically assigned to guide those taking the Alchemist certification examination. Seeing Xiao Fan approach, one of them looked up and asked, "Name, age, and mentor. Please register."

Xiao Fan took the paper and pen and wrote down: Xiao Bufan, eighteen years old, Elder Huo.

Other than his mentor's name, which was real, all the information had been fabricated by Xiao Fan. The man took the paper, glanced at Xiao Fan again, and asked, "Eighteen?"

"Yes, I just turned eighteen." Xiao Fan answered without changing expression.

"You haven't taken an Alchemist examination before?"

"I have."

"You have?" The man was clearly stunned for a moment, then continued, "But it seems the Alchemist Guild has no record of your information?"

"I took it at another guild before."

Seeing Xiao Fan answer so casually, the man seemed to lower his guard and continued asking, "Then what rank of Alchemist are you taking the examination for this time?"

"Fourth tier."

"Mhm, fourth tier..."

"What! Fourth tier!" Even the pen in his hand dropped in shock.

One had to know that the most prestigious Alchemists in Black Rock City were the president and vice president of the Alchemist Guild, and both were fourth-tier Alchemists. Yet this young boy before him was also applying for a fourth-tier examination. How could he not be shocked?

"Are you sure you want to take the fourth-tier Alchemist examination? Alchemist examinations are no joking matter."

But when he saw the real flame condensed in Xiao Fan's hand, he fell silent.

After quite a while, he finally said, "I need to report this to the president. Please wait a moment."

"Mm, sorry for the trouble." Xiao Fan took Zi Yan and casually found a seat in the hall. Watching people pass by with badges on their chests, most of them marking them as first- or second-tier Alchemists, Xiao Fan could not help sighing. "Only Alchemists are so sought after. With some backing, they can get away with it. Otherwise, those badges hanging on their chests would make them nothing more than plump little lambs."

Xiao Fan instinctively turned his gaze toward Zi Yan. Sure enough, Zi Yan, seated on his lap, swung her two short legs while holding a hand over her mouth.

This girl's drool had practically formed a river...

"Xiao Fan, there are so many treasures here!"

Zi Yan pointed at one person. "That one is worth half a Little Gold."

"Little Gold?" For a moment, Xiao Fan did not understand what Zi Yan meant.

"That Griffin from Jia Nan Academy. If Old Man Su hadn't stopped me, I would've caught it and roasted it long ago." Zi Yan seemed upset that she had failed to eat Little Gold.

Suddenly, Zi Yan grabbed Xiao Fan's arm and shook it back and forth, little stars shining in her eyes.

"Xiao Fan! Xiao Fan!"

Zi Yan pointed at someone who looked rather disheveled, whose Alchemist Guild robe was even wrinkled and crumpled.

"A second-tier Alchemist?" Xiao Fan saw the badge on the man's chest and could not help asking, "Xiao Yan'er, what's wrong with that guy?"

Zi Yan said excitedly, "That guy has something good on him!"

"Something good?"

"Mhm, mhm! Xiao Fan, he has more than one treasure on him!"

Xiao Fan examined the man again. He really did look sloppy; even his hair and beard had not been groomed. He hurried through the Alchemist Guild, looking like some strange fellow, and there was no sign at all that he possessed any treasures.

But seeing Zi Yan practically drooling, Xiao Fan suddenly had some wicked thoughts of his own...

But he quickly suppressed them again. "I, Xiao Fan, will never steal or rob!"

"Xiao Yan'er, we'll go pilfer it later!"

Zi Yan wrinkled her delicate little nose. Xiao Fan knew that she was marking the target for later recapture.

Before long, a man wearing the robes of a fourth-tier Alchemist approached Xiao Fan at a leisurely pace. He looked somewhat old and wore a pair of gold-rimmed half-glasses.

"Are you Xiao Bufan, young friend?"

"President Frank, I am." Xiao Fan did not neglect etiquette and immediately stood to return the greeting.

"You're certain you want to take the fourth-tier Alchemist examination?" No matter how Frank looked at Xiao Fan, he could not see how the young man could possibly refine fourth-tier pills.

Xiao Fan handed Frank a pill. "President, this is a third-tier Qi Recovery Powder that I refined."

Frank accepted the Qi Recovery Powder Xiao Fan handed him. Qi Recovery Powder was only of middling difficulty among third-tier pills, but when Frank examined it carefully, he noticed something was wrong.

Its appearance was excellent, and the faint medicinal fragrance it gave off made one feel refreshed after only a slight sniff.

But what truly caught Frank's attention was, "Pill patterns!"

Even Frank himself would have to rely greatly on luck to refine a pill bearing pill patterns.

Yet no matter what, Frank was unwilling to believe that this seemingly young Xiao Fan had refined it.

"Young friend, did you truly refine this?"

"If President doesn't believe me, how about letting me refine one in person?" Xiao Fan understood his concerns.

"Very well. Then I'll make an exception and allow you to take the fourth-tier Alchemist examination!"

But Frank still had his doubts. Thus, as the two headed toward the alchemy examination area, Frank asked another question, "May I ask what tier of Alchemist your master, Elder Huo, is?"

"Fifth tier."

Frank still felt uncertain. Logically speaking, someone capable of teaching such a young junior should not be merely a fifth-tier Alchemist.

After Xiao Fan followed Frank to a place overflowing with a rich medicinal fragrance, he suddenly remembered a problem and spoke to Frank.

"Ahem, President, well... my medicine cauldron was destroyed by me. Could I borrow one of the guild's medicine cauldrons?"

"You don't even have a medicine cauldron?"

Frank could not believe that someone seeking fourth-tier Alchemist certification had not even prepared a medicine cauldron.

"Boy, if you're deliberately making a fool of this old man, you won't be leaving through that door today!"