Necklace?

After all that effort, his Faith points were still only a little over five thousand...

None of his talents could be enhanced... What a shame.

Li Xunsheng got out of bed early and was just about to organize the ingredients when a notification chime in his mind caught his attention.

Qingyi (Lv.10): Do you have time? Appraise a necklace for me.

Golden Shovel: You're already level ten? Are you the first?

When they completed the Legion Mission separation yesterday, this big sister had already been close to level ten.

It looked like Yi Qing had conveniently raised her level while he was resting yesterday...

Qingyi: No, someone was faster.

Good grief... Did none of these people ever rest?

Golden Shovel: What necklace is it? I'm at the Blood Rose Tavern in Lone Star City. Just come over.

Qingyi: Okay.

Closing the chat panel, Xuan Sheng looked at the empty shop and tore off a note left behind by Mo Rui. After giving it a brief glance, he read:

"I'm going to find a special channel to stock up on food. Just keep the shop closed for now."

Hmm... Had she gone to contact the demons?

He put the note away. With nothing else to do, Li Xunsheng sat at the doorway and waited quietly for the girl to arrive.

"This is the thing?"

Before long, Yi Qing arrived at the shop. She entered and took out the necklace she wanted appraised:

Yi Qing was still wearing the same close-fitting leather armor, which outlined her graceful figure to perfection. However, her face looked somewhat haggard, as though she had been busy for a long time.

Seeing how hurried and anxious Yi Qing was, Xuan Sheng did not bother asking more questions. He looked directly at the item in her hand...

It was a string of ivory-white jade pendants. The pure-white material gave off a hazy radiance, exuding an indescribable beauty...

[Jade Pendant: Lv.8 Blue +20 Attack Power +10 Defense]

"This is just an ordinary necklace... There's no need to take it so seriously."

Although it was indeed a blue-grade piece of equipment, as an accessory, it could not provide the high attribute boosts that proper blue equipment did.

Li Xunsheng looked at Yi Qing's solemn expression in confusion.

Was this ordinary item... really worth taking so seriously?

"This dropped from a Demonic Energy Infected Villager in the wilderness."

"Mm, and then?"

"My class-change quest is related to it."

"?"

No way!

Amid his surprise, Xuan Sheng picked up the white pendant from the table again and examined it repeatedly, making sure he had not failed the appraisal...

"This isn't a quest item, either, is it? And it doesn't have any extra story. It's just a very ordinary blue accessory."

After checking it again and again, along with using the Appraisal Skill for a complete appraisal, Li Xunsheng finally looked away from the necklace and stared strangely at Yi Qing.

Had he made a mistake, or had this simple girl been deceived?

This necklace was nothing more than an unremarkable accessory.

"Can you tell me more specifically about your quest?"

Li Xunsheng handed the necklace back to Yi Qing and sat up straight. The hidden-clue box within him had yet to be opened, and he looked forward to first obtaining some information about the hidden quest's progression.

"Okay."

Taking back the appraised necklace, Yi Qing realized that it truly was not what she had been looking for. She furrowed her brows and decided not to hide anything from the man she trusted.

"The quest began with a letter given by the system. You appraised it before."

"Mm... I remember."

At that time, Li Xunsheng had just left the Appraisal Shop, and he had indeed appraised a letter for Yi Qing.

It seemed to be a letter of recommendation written to someone... an item that could trigger the Shadow Assassin inheritance quest. It should have been the system's reward for the first person to reach level five, so he could more or less guess.

"After I handed over the letter, the people from the temple told me to find the source of the demonic energy near Lone Star City—in other words, why Demonic Energy Infected Villagers had appeared..."

It was impossible to explain everything in just a few words. Yi Qing gave a verbal explanation while displaying her quest details to the rather curious Li Xunsheng.

"The quest went smoothly and progressed to a step related to a necklace. In short, I have to find a relevant necklace. It should be with the Demonic Energy Villagers..."

To change classes as soon as possible, Yi Qing had been busy all night. The skin around her eyes was slightly dark, and she was not in very good spirits.

"Mm... A necklace? Wait, the person who gave you the quest... Could it be someone named Linke?"

Suddenly remembering that he had once farmed those Demonic Energy Infected Villagers and obtained a strange quest necklace, Li Xunsheng slapped his hand and rummaged through his backpack for the necklace from back then...

[Linke's Necklace (Quest Item): Perhaps you can find relevant clues in a certain temple in Lone Star City?]

This item had appeared when he was leveling before. Li Xunsheng had not even had time to deal with the clues to his hidden class, so naturally he had paid no attention to this strange necklace. He had simply left it aside until today.

When he dug out the necklace again... after using the Appraisal Skill, all of its information was finally revealed:

[Linke's Necklace (Quest Item): A token of love between a couple. However, the man has now been corrupted by demonic energy and can never return to normal. If someone returns this necklace to a certain female priest in the temple, they can obtain her gratitude.]

"This is it!"

The moment Xuan Sheng took out the necklace, Yi Qing discovered that the marker pointing toward her quest target had not deviated in the slightest. It pointed straight at the necklace in the middle of the table.

"It dropped when I was farming monsters before. If you want it, just take it."

He had not expected this thing to be related to a hidden-class change... This so-called quest item probably only showed its greatest value in the hands of someone who needed to change classes.

Since it would help Yi Qing immensely, Xuan Sheng said no more and gave it to the woman in front of him without hesitation.

"You're just giving it to me?"

Yi Qing accepted the necklace sent through the trade and looked at her only friend in astonishment and confusion.

"It's fine. You're about to change classes. How could I take advantage of you? When you have time later, just bring me along to farm levels."

This quest item was useless to him anyway... Since he had decided to win her favor, he naturally had to see it through... He could not start haggling with this silly girl for a few Gold Coins now and ruin the good impression he had built, could he?

After experiencing what it was like to be carried and gain experience without doing anything, Li Xunsheng no longer really wanted to fight on his own.

In any case, his abilities were special. If he fought too often and ended up exposing them, that would be even more troublesome.

If he could lie back and leech experience, why would he insist on taking the field himself?

"Gurgle..."

A strange sound came from the girl's stomach, reminding her that her body had already fallen into a state of hunger.

"You haven't eaten anything?"

Yi Qing's face flushed slightly, greatly surprising Li Xunsheng.

Although she was indeed in a state of Famine, given Yi Qing's strength, there was no reason she could not even fill her stomach...

"I've been busy with the quest the whole time, and all the monsters I fought were humanoid, so..."

"Besides, the city isn't selling anything edible anymore."

Yi Qing hurriedly explained, her beautiful face covered in crimson.

She could clearly feel the kindness and warmth of the person in front of her... Yet the more he showed her such kindness, the less she wanted to reveal her weak or vulnerable side...

"It's fine. I'll prepare something for you to eat."

The helplessly amused youth slowly stood and walked toward the stove inside the shop, but his face darkened slightly..

The city had stopped supplying food entirely?

The situation was worsening faster and faster...