Appraisal Skill

'Are you free this afternoon? There's a bigger mission we can do together.'

After sending this message to Yi Qing in his friends list, the young man quickly received a reply.

'Sorry, I'm busy... Are you in a hurry?'

'Sort of. The mission's pretty big...'

'Okay. Where? I'll come.'

'Inside Lone Star City, on the main street, at the Blood Rose Tavern.'

'Okay.'

After closing the friends chat panel, Li Xunsheng bared his teeth.

She really was as straightforward and efficient as ever, without the slightest intention of making small talk.

Glancing at the four groups of recovery items he had listed on the auction house, Xuan Sheng was surprised to find that half of them had already sold. He silently shook his head and canceled the listing for the other half.

If he wanted to form a party and complete that Legion Mission, supplies were essential.

However, just after removing the items from sale, the young man received a private message.

This private message was different from the others, so it had not been blocked.

'[Ten Copper Coins] Big Boss Golden Shovel, why are there no recovery items left?! I was just about to save up enough money!'

Huh? Had the other party mailed ten Copper Coins over?

After accepting the attachment in the mail, Xuan Sheng replied.

'Sorry, I've accepted a mission that requires a lot of recovery items. I need them for myself.'

'Ah... I wish I could gather more currency... Wait, Big Boss Golden Shovel, would you be willing to trade items?'

'Trade with an item? What do you have?'

The other party had tossed over ten Copper Coins just to ask the way, so Xuan Sheng was quite interested as well.

'This!'

A player named [Bounty Hunter] sent over an item description.

[Unknown Converter: Consumable item. Effect unknown. Please appraise it first. Rarity: Rare! (Green!)]

'I got this item from a mission. I don't know what it does, but it's green, after all. Would you trade it for a group of mana-restoring fries... Please?'

Huh? A green item?

Li Xunsheng's eyes narrowed as he saw through the item's detailed information.

[Attribute Converter: Consumable item. Transfers an attribute from any piece of equipment with the same rarity as this item to another piece of equipment of the same rarity. Rarity: Rare! (Green!)]

It could be used to reroll attributes!

Xuan Sheng's eyes lit up, and he immediately became interested.

This was a rare and precious item.

'Appraisal in the city is too expensive. Otherwise, I would have listed it on the auction house, sold it for currency, and then gone shopping. But I can't sell the items that need to be appraised right now, so would you trade directly?'

The player had not originally wanted to sell it so cheaply. However, no one was willing to pay a high price for a green item with an unknown use. Combined with the pressure to level up, he could only grit his teeth and sell it this way.

'All right. I'll reluctantly agree.'

The young man pretended to speak indifferently, acting as though he had gotten no advantage at all, but he was inwardly overjoyed.

The value of this Rare item itself was even higher than that of an ordinary green piece of equipment! After all, it had no level restriction. It could reroll the attributes of any Rare equipment!

He could preserve useful attributes and put them on future green equipment with better stats. Although it could only be used once, it was still extremely useful!

An item like this was absolutely worth more than ten Gold Coins! No—as players' levels increased, its value would only rise further!

As for a group of fried potato sticks, they were practically worthless to Xuan Sheng. They merely required a little time to make.

With the system urging them on, the two soon completed the agreement and finished the trade: one group of fries for one green item.

After obtaining the cylindrical, metal Attribute Converter and carefully reading its description, Xuan Sheng had only one question.

How was he supposed to use this thing?

[Can be used after appraisal.]

At the useless information provided by the Eye of God, Xuan Sheng's eyes widened.

What the hell? He already knew what this thing was and what it did, yet he still had to appraise it first?

Wasn't his Eye of God supposed to come with an appraisal function???

[The Appraisal Skill is required to remove the special spell concealing the item's surface before it can be used.]

"There's such a thing as this kind of operation?"

After putting away the item and noticing that it was still early, Li Xunsheng's thoughts shifted.

He had to wait a while anyway, so he might as well go to an appraisal shop and take a look.

His Eye of God was truly too useless. It didn't even have the Appraisal Skill.

He would go and see. Perhaps he could somehow get the Appraisal Skill.

After sending messages to Zhao Jun and Yi Qing, Xuan Sheng rushed straight to the appraisal shop in the city...

"An appraisal costs one Gold Coin. If you don't have that, don't bother."

The moment he stepped through the shop's door, the young man, who smelled the scholarly fragrance of ink filling the room, heard a leisurely voice drift over.

"Hm?"

Seeing that the newcomer had not turned around and left after hearing the outrageous price, but had instead approached the counter, the shopkeeper—a white-haired old woman—looked over in confusion.

"Young man, do you have a Gold Coin?"

She had some impression of all the adventurers in Lone Star City, but not of this young fellow.

Could he be an outsider as well?

"No... not yet."

After hearing the old woman's outrageous price, Li Xunsheng, who had initially cursed her for ripping people off, was about to turn around and leave.

But then he thought about it. Since he was already here, why not probe a little and see whether there was a mission?

"Could you tell me how to use the Appraisal Skill? I want to learn it."

"Hmph, another ignorant outsider who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth..."

The old woman narrowed her eyes and muttered, seemingly pitying the outsiders' ignorance.

"The Appraisal Skill isn't something you can use as soon as you learn it. It requires a great deal of practice. At the same time, effort alone isn't enough. To master it, you also need extraordinary eyesight. That's the key—and it's a talent ordinary people don't possess!"

The old woman sighed softly. She glanced at the young man who had entered the shop and, for some reason, continued speaking.

If he had been one of those outsiders who asked this and that in the past, she would have been too lazy to say anything. She would have driven him straight out of the shop.

Perhaps this young man was simply lucky. Maybe she happened to be in a good mood today.

"If you want to learn the Appraisal Skill, that's fine too..."

Now that she was interested, the old woman was no longer in a hurry to drive him away. Instead, she took out a sheet of paper covered in strange writing and placed it in front of Li Xunsheng.

"If you can figure out what this paper means and what clues it contains, I'll teach you the Appraisal Skill. Let me make this clear: this old woman isn't deliberately making things difficult for you. This is the most basic quality an appraiser must possess."

[The hidden mission 'The Legacy of Appraisal' has been triggered!]

[Obtain the story behind this note through observation alone to complete the mission. Reward: Skill: Appraisal Skill!]

The old woman tapped her thigh rhythmically and raised the corner of her mouth, seemingly recalling the days when she had once been an apprentice.

"A master appraiser can understand an item's information even without using the Appraisal Skill. Try it first. If you truly can't do it, there's no shame in admitting defeat."

"You should know that the Appraisal Skill doesn't succeed one hundred percent of the time, either. Appraisal proficiency is certainly important, but this skill depends on the person. When different people use it, the results will be different."

"So, young man, don't be too arrogant. Some things simply can't be done no matter how hard you force them, just like..."

"Hm?!"

The rambling old woman's eyes widened. Looking at the note on the counter as it radiated a golden glow, she shouted in a cracking voice:

"How did you do that!!!"