Clearly, a master’s moves were never something an ordinary newbie could easily understand.

Bai Xia had assumed Tianzheng must have some backup plan. Instead, after getting the blueprint, he simply led her out of the smithy without the slightest hesitation.

Just as Bai Xia was about to ask him what was going on, Tianzheng suddenly turned and led her toward the village chief’s house at the entrance of the Newbie Village.

The Newbie Village chief looked like the highest-level NPC in the village. In truth, he was.

However, he didn’t seem to offer players any quests. His role was closer to that of an information NPC. He answered all kinds of questions about the game and provided explanations about the world’s lore.

He also had the Appraiser profession, but his fees were far higher than those at the appraisal shop. Even the chief of a small village was still an official, after all. Almost no one went to him.

In *Otherworld*, equipment dropped by monsters had to be appraised before it could be used. The higher the equipment’s grade, the higher the required Appraisal skill.

Players could also choose Appraiser as a secondary profession, but raising it to a high level was extremely difficult. Ordinary players simply couldn’t find enough equipment to improve their proficiency.

Outside the chief’s house, Tianzheng first had Bai Xia take out the Jadeite Bangle dropped by the Jade Serpent yesterday. Only then did he pull her inside.

Bai Xia’s face filled with question marks.

There was clearly a cheaper appraisal shop nearby. Why insist on choosing the expensive option?

She couldn’t understand this kind of wasteful spending, but Tianzheng still showed no intention of explaining himself.

The village chief’s small house looked just as deserted. The chief himself was an old man who appeared to be at least seventy or eighty years old.

His hair was completely white, and he wore a long beard. He looked exactly like the classic kind-hearted old grandpa.

When they arrived, the old man was sitting alone beneath a tree in the courtyard, enjoying the shade and smoking. A plate of fruit sat beside him.

He looked utterly relaxed and carefree.

Then, under Bai Xia’s bewildered gaze, Tianzheng handed the chief both the Jadeite Bangle and the appraisal fee.

He had really come here to have it appraised!

The chief cheerfully accepted the money. He brushed a hand across the Jadeite Bangle, and a faint white light flashed.

The appraisal was complete.

Tianzheng took the bangle, glanced at it, and immediately tossed it to Bai Xia. Then he suddenly pulled out the blueprint he had just obtained from the blacksmith.

“Chief, may I ask you about something?”

“What do you mean, may you? If there’s something you don’t understand, young man, just ask.”

After receiving the money, the chief looked even more amiable. The smile on his face had grown noticeably wider.

That was only natural. Bai Xia and Tianzheng were the first “fools” willing to spend money on him.

Naturally, the chief had taken an instant liking to them.

Tianzheng nodded calmly. Only then did he hand the weapon blueprint to the chief.

“We plan to make some weapons for self-defense. However, I don’t know where to find the main material listed on the blueprint. Could you take a look for us?”

“Oh?”

The chief raised an eyebrow. After taking the blueprint, he scanned it twice and smiled.

“This blueprint… It came from Old Wang’s shop, didn’t it? Its main material is azurite. That’s easy to find. There’s plenty of it in the caves behind the mountain.”

“The caves behind the mountain?”

Bai Xia was the one who asked, but the chief didn’t seem to mind.

He was just about to explain when something seemed to cross his mind. For some reason, his expression became a little troubled.

Bai Xia caught the sudden change in his expression and raised her slender brows.

Sure enough, the next moment, she heard the chief speak hesitantly.

“Um… Since you two adventurers are going there to collect azurite, could you perhaps do an old man a favor while you’re at it?”

“Is there something you need our help with, Chief?”

“Ah, this is rather embarrassing to talk about…”

After seeing them nod, the chief hesitated briefly before slowly beginning his story.

The chief had once been a powerful adventurer himself. It was only after growing old and losing the ability to adventure that he returned to the Newbie Village to retire.

However, his many years of adventuring had left him with numerous hidden injuries. As he aged, his health worsened. He had to rely on various herbs every day to ease the pain.

A few days ago, he had gone to the back mountain to gather herbs, as usual. Unfortunately, he had accidentally wandered into the territory of a pack of wild wolves.

The elderly chief was naturally no match for them. His years of adventuring experience allowed him to shake the wolves off, but he lost his way in the process.

As he searched for a route home, he discovered a strange cave along the way.

The cave didn’t look naturally formed. More importantly, it was filled with azurite.

Azurite was an excellent forging material. Though its reserves were abundant, it was nowhere near common enough to be found everywhere.

Yet inside that cave, azurite could be found all over the place. It was also of relatively high quality.

“All over the place?”

“That’s right.”

Bai Xia fell into thought. The chief continued speaking.

“I was curious too. In all my years, it was the first time I’d seen a cave with so much azurite. So I couldn’t resist taking a look deeper inside.”

“Who could’ve known that I’d almost leave my old bones there!”

“Was there some powerful monster inside?”

“Powerful is a bit of a stretch. They were only goblins.”

The chief shook his head, though he still looked shaken.

“But there were an incredible number of them. Some were even strange varieties of goblin I’d never seen before!”

Goblins?

Those classic images of little green-skinned creatures appeared in Bai Xia’s mind. After thinking for a moment, she raised her head again.

“Then, Chief, do you want us to wipe them all out?”

“No, no!”

The chief hurriedly shook his head.

“I only want you to retrieve something from inside the cave. It’s a piece of jewelry my late wife left me.”

It turned out that, although the chief had narrowly escaped after wandering into the depths of the cave a few days ago, he only realized after returning home that he had lost the keepsake his late wife had given him.

The chief was horrified. He immediately returned to the back mountain to search.

He carefully checked the route he had taken several times, but he found nothing. That left only one possibility…

He had dropped it inside that strange cave.

The chief had searched around the edges of the cave but found no trace. He didn’t dare venture too far inside.

So when he learned that Bai Xia and Tianzheng needed to collect azurite, he came up with the idea of asking them to search for it.

“Can you two adventurers help me retrieve my late wife’s jewelry? If you agree to find it, I’ll certainly reward you handsomely!”

The chief’s voice rang beside their ears.

At the same time, the system’s voice rang out as well.

“Ding! A special hidden quest has been triggered—‘The Chief’s Request.’ Accept?”

“Of course!”

Bai Xia accepted without a second thought.

Tianzheng naturally made the same choice. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that this was exactly the result he had wanted.

After they accepted the quest, the chief’s gaze grew even gentler.

Not only that, but after looking them over, he suddenly said, “I’ve been to that strange cave several times. The outer area is filled with the weakest goblins, but there are far too many of them. There should be even stronger creatures deeper inside.”

“It’s not that I underestimate two brave adventurers, but with the equipment you’re wearing, going there would be extremely dangerous.”

“How about this? Follow me!”

With that, the chief stood and led the way inside the house.

Bai Xia blinked and followed close behind. During the process, she finally couldn’t hold back anymore.

She leaned toward Tianzheng and whispered, “How exactly did you find this quest?”

She really couldn’t be blamed for being curious.

The entire process had been far too bizarre.

First, they raised the chief’s favorability by appraising an item. Then, the blueprint they had thought was useless became the key to unlocking a hidden quest.

Judging from the chief’s reaction, he had decided to help them because he thought they were too weak.

A hidden quest that other players had struggled to obtain was now being placed right in front of them so easily.

Tianzheng merely smiled at Bai Xia’s astonishment. He lowered his voice as well.

“It’s simple. The quests in every Newbie Village follow roughly the same pattern. I also have my own intelligence network.”

“Of course, I didn’t expect the process to go this smoothly either.”

In other words, someone in another Newbie Village had triggered a similar quest. Tianzheng had simply copied the method.

Thinking of it that way, it wasn’t difficult to understand.

But while it sounded simple, actually pulling it off was no easy matter. Tianzheng and Bai Xia had unlocked this hidden quest so smoothly partly because of their own luck.

Of course, there was no point dwelling on that.

The rewards were what mattered.

As Bai Xia thought, she and Tianzheng had already followed the chief into the main room.

“…When I was young, I was just like you two. I loved adventure, and I was especially fond of collecting all kinds of weapons and armor.”

“I met my wife while adventuring. After we married, we continued adventuring together, traveling all over the place.”

“That lasted until my wife passed away from illness many years ago, and an arrow struck my knee…”

“Ah, in the end, the world belongs to the young!”

The chief sighed as he pulled out a key and unlocked a large cabinet at the back of the room.

Inside, the cabinet was packed with all kinds of weapons.

Long blades, greatswords, curved bows, and short daggers filled the shelves. Several sets of imposing armor hung to one side.

The chief’s aged hand gently brushed across their surfaces. Then he took out a silver-white longsword and a pitch-black dagger.

“That cave is simply too dangerous. Since you two adventurers are carrying out a request for me, I want you to find my late wife’s keepsake and return safely.”

“These two weapons were originally meant to be your rewards. For now, take them to protect yourselves, brave adventurers!”

【Silver-White Blade】

Requirement: Warrior-class profession, Level 5 or above.

Grade: Fine.

A sharp blade infused with cutting force. It can easily tear through an enemy’s body.

Stats: Attack +50. Attack Speed +10%. Attacks inflict Cutting Force, with a 1% chance to inflict Armor Break.

【Shadowfang Dagger】

Requirement: Assassin-class profession, Level 5 or above.

Grade: Fine.

A dagger infused with the power of shadows. It can silently steal away an enemy’s life.

Stats: Attack +40. Attack Speed +20%. Attacks inflict Shadow Power, with a 5% chance to inflict Blind.

Fine-grade equipment!

Bai Xia had never expected to gain anything before the quest even began.

And this wasn’t just a reward. It was a huge haul.

Unfortunately, the moment she accepted the weapons, the system informed her that they were bound and couldn’t be sold.

That left her feeling rather miserable.

This was a Fine-grade weapon!

Sure, in the later stages of the game, no one would probably spare it a second glance if it were left by the roadside.

But how much could she sell it for right now?

It would be more than enough to order two takeout meals, eat one, and throw the other away!

Unfortunately, the system clearly had no intention of letting players exploit such a loophole. The weapons were bound the moment they entered her hands.

She couldn’t equip them yet because her level was too low. If she discarded them, they would disappear automatically.

Wasn’t the system being a little too stingy?

Bai Xia forcibly suppressed the urge to flip it off.

What could she say? Her behavior was basically the classic case of getting a watch and still wanting a bicycle.