There Are Always Goblins Trying to Harm Me!

"Alright, then I'll start with the first-tier assessment..."

Gu Xia sighed helplessly. More trouble was still just more trouble. For now, he was not short on time.

"Very well, sir. Please follow me..."

Having received Gu Xia's agreement, the young receptionist made a welcoming gesture, then swayed her slender waist as she walked ahead to lead the way...

Before long, the two gradually slowed down. A moment later, they stopped before a large door. Outside it stood four burly men, fully armed and guarding the place.

Gu Xia merely glanced at the four men. In such a massive Alchemist Guild, using a few Fighters as guards seemed a little cheap, didn't it?

But that had nothing to do with Gu Xia. What he cared about now was the alchemist assessment...

"Uncle Teya, has the assessment inside begun yet?"

The young receptionist handed Gu Xia's information, which she had somehow finished writing, to the strongest of the four burly men. Maintaining her professional smile, she spoke with the man named Teya...

"Hehe, not yet, but it'll be starting soon. You brought another newcomer in? He looks rather promising." As Teya accepted Gu Xia's information, he sized up the refined young gentleman before him, whose temperament seemed somewhat otherworldly.

Teya's first thought was: Damn, how could there be such a handsome man? If he dressed as a woman, wouldn't he be a peerless beauty? Though he's a little young—no! Younger would be even better, hehehe.

For some reason, as Gu Xia watched the bearded man holding his information and grinning foolishly, he suddenly felt his ass clench. A chill ran through his body, and goosebumps instantly rose all over his skin...

Could another goblin be coveting my body?

Just as Gu Xia thought this, somewhere far away, the girl who had tried to scam him was hurrying toward the Alchemist Guild with an old man dressed in an alchemist's distinctive robe and wearing a badge marked with four lines...

Naturally, Gu Xia knew nothing of this. He merely shuddered suddenly. As an expert, he had instincts! He felt that this hairy-chested, bearded brute was definitely thinking something bad about him! He must be jealous of this young master's peerless looks! He had always had the feeling that "there are always troublemakers trying to harm me..." This made him even more wary of the seemingly abnormal bearded man, as though one careless move would cost him his ass...

However Gu Xia felt, the necessary procedures still had to be completed. Teya took out a black armband from his clothes. A large number 2 was embroidered on it. "This is your examination number. Don't lose it."

Taking the armband, Gu Xia looked at the number that seemed to represent him. For no reason, it reminded him of certain other meanings that number had held in his previous life. His face immediately darkened. He angrily slipped it onto his arm, gave Teya the sort of expression a husky wore when staring at someone, then set off with some displeasure...

"Sir, you'll have to enter by yourself from here on. According to the rules, we aren't allowed to enter casually," the young receptionist said with a light smile once the procedures were complete.

"..."

Gu Xia gave no response to the young woman's explanation. He simply walked silently into the room, leaving everyone only with his unhappy back...

After passing through the door, bright lights illuminated the spacious hall as though it were daytime. Quite a crowd had gathered within, and low murmurs and occasional laughter echoed through the hall.

Gu Xia's gaze swept over the badges on their chests, and he discovered that most of them were genuine alchemists. They all wore nearly identical alchemist robes and bore badges representing their alchemist ranks...

"Alright,

I suppose this little brother is the last person to arrive for this morning's assessment. Come with me..." While Gu Xia was still feeling somewhat depressed, an old man walked over. Upon seeing the large "2" on Gu Xia's arm, he spoke to him with great kindness. Then he turned around and led Gu Xia and another young man in his twenties, who was also taking the first-tier alchemist assessment, toward the examination area...

At the center of the hall were more than a dozen carefully arranged stone platforms, each separated from the others. All kinds of alchemy equipment were placed atop them... Seeing this, Gu Xia knew this was likely where his assessment would take place...

"You should be the first group taking the alchemist assessment today. I assume you all know the rules already, so I won't waste any more words. Now, please use the pill formulas on your tables and begin your examination!"

The old man was straightforward and announced the start of the assessment immediately. Yet after making the announcement, he very obviously looked helplessly at a young girl at the final platform, then cast a somewhat pitying glance at Gu Xia and the young man who were about to begin their assessments. Only then did his expression return to normal as he began observing the refining techniques and process control of those taking the morning assessment...

Noticing the old man's gaze, Gu Xia followed it toward the final position. There stood a young girl behind the alchemy table, tall and slender, with clear eyes like icy springs atop snow-capped mountains. She had a delicate face, fine long brows, and a graceful, exquisite figure. She wore a fitted silver dress-robes, and the silver fabric complemented her warm jade-like skin, lending her an unmistakably cold charm akin to special metal. Most astonishing of all, however, was that the silver-robed woman possessed a head of long silver hair that fell all the way to her waist.

This silver was not the pallid silver caused by some illness or mutation. Soft as silver threads and drifting gently in the air, it instead gave the silver-robed woman a strange allure.

In any case, a certain white-stocking—cough, fur—enthusiast declared that he was already sold!

Ahem, of course, that was just a joke. Although Gu Xia had indeed been drawn to the woman's silver-white hair for a brief instant, the next moment, he seemed to see Xun'er smiling at him while holding a firewood cleaver, wreathed in dark energy, with the phantom of a Hannya behind her...

After that wave of hallucination, the tiny bit of appreciation in Gu Xia's heart was instantly snuffed out. He nearly entered sage mode, seeing through all worldly desires and becoming a monk on the spot!

The silver-haired woman had no idea that Gu Xia's state of mind had shifted like a roller coaster in those few short seconds, because she had already immersed herself in refining pills for the examination...

In truth, Gu Xia was the only one still letting his thoughts run wild. The young man in his twenties had also begun refining his pill with confidence...

Seeing that the absurdly handsome young man was still standing there blankly, the old man could not help shaking his head. He sighed, believing Gu Xia was still too young. Moreover, in his current state, it was basically impossible for him to pass the alchemist rank assessment...

Having already guessed the outcome, the old man lost interest in continuing to watch Gu Xia...

However, just as he was about to shift his gaze to the silver-haired woman, an incomparably terrifying high temperature suddenly filled the hall! Along with that horrifying heat came an extreme suppressive pressure, as if an emperor had descended...