"For abilities below tier 4, there isn't a qualitative change when one tier is raised. It's just an increase in strength. You have multiple Combat Domain abilities, so you should be very clear on this point." Ling You said.
Qi Yuan nodded. Indeed, there wasn't a qualitative change when his abilities were raised from tier 1 to tier 2. Steel Strength, area detection, and energy control were the same.
"But tier 4 abilities are different!" Ling You said.
"Take Combat Domain for example. There are tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 defensive enhancements, but it doesn't have tier 4!"
"Defensive enhancements don't have tier 4?" Qi Yuan was slightly stunned.
According to the Talent Tree's enhancement path, he originally thought that his abilities could be enhanced from tier 1 all the way to tier 4, 5, 6, or even higher. But Ling You actually said that defensive enhancements didn't have tier 4.
Then wouldn't his Steel Defense be the same?
"It's not just defensive enhancements. Most low-tier abilities are at tier 3 and can't be enhanced to tier 4!"
"You mean, from tier 4 onwards, what we need to face is a completely different ability system?" Qi Yuan asked.
"Yes, and no." Ling You said slowly.
"Tier 4 abilities are also divided into True Tier 4 and False Tier 4. Some tier 3 abilities can reach the threshold of tier 4 through special means. These abilities are usually called False Tier 4. In fact, in the Shelter, many tier 4 ability users used this method to reach tier 4. They're stronger than tier 3, but weaker than True Tier 4."
"In the Black Steel Shelter, the status of a False Tier 4 is even lower than those powerful Peak Tier 3."
"Compared to False Tier 4, True Tier 4 can be considered a true powerhouse. This is because they have core tier 4 abilities!
And they have the possibility to continue advancing. "
"Are Xu Yue and that Wild Hunter a False Tier 4 or True Tier 4?" Qi Yuan asked.
"They're both True Tier 4." Ling You said.
True Tier 4!
Qi Yuan's eyebrows raised. He originally thought that the two were False Tier 4, which was why they couldn't escape. He didn't expect them to be True Tier 4.
"What are their core Tier 4 abilities?" Qi Yuan asked.
"That Wilderness Hunter who died at your hands, his core Tier 4 ability should be Defensive Grandmaster!
As for Xu Yue, it might be Feng Yu or Yu Feng. "
Qi Yuan's eyes gradually lit up. A defensive master!
Feng Yu!
Drive the Wind!
The names of these abilities were obviously much more impressive than Enhanced Defense and Enhanced Strength!
"If these Tier 4 cores didn't come from Tier 3 cores, then how did they come to be?" Qi Yuan consciously took on the role of a supporting character.
Ling You paused for a moment before giving her answer.
"The resonance of multiple prerequisites!"
Prerequisite ability!
Mosaic!
Resonance!
So that's how it was!
Qi Yuan was suddenly enlightened.
This unexpected answer solved many of the mysteries in his heart.
When he had chosen Steel Defense, the gray balls of light that represented various talents on the Talent Tree had instantly decreased by more than half. That choice had already decided many things.
After the first choice, the promotion path had already been fixed. Those missing abilities were definitely not compatible with Steel Defense.
Qi Yuan was still a little surprised that the Talent Tree would act on its own and remove those abilities for him. Now, it seemed that the Talent Tree had already been paving the way for him to reach Tier 4 from the very beginning.
Judging from the various signs, his promotion path to Tier 4 would not be the same as before, where he would simply strengthen his abilities from Tier 3. It was very likely that he would be like other aptitude users, where multiple prerequisites would resonate with each other to form a brand new Tier 4 ability.
Ling You continued, "Using Defensive Grandmaster as an example, to construct such a core ability, you would need five prerequisites: Tier 3 Enhanced Defense, Tier 3 Enhanced Strength, Tier 3 Enhanced Speed, Tier 2 or Tier 3 Parry, and Tier 2 or Tier 3 Vengeance!"
Qi Yuan's brows furrowed slightly. Ling You's explanation made him understand why there were so many rank 3 hunters in the wastelands but so few rank 4 hunters.
Most Tier 3 Hunters would struggle to gather five Tier 3 Skills, not to mention five Skills that were compatible with each other.
"For many well-informed Hunters, they might know that multiple prerequisites are needed for promotion to Tier 4, but they definitely don't know which prerequisites are compatible with each other to construct a Tier 4 ability.
In addition, the Glory Trial consumes a large amount of energy and Asterite. So, without the help of the Shelter, most Tier 3 Hunters will never reach Tier 4 in their lifetime. "
Qi Yuan nodded. Tier 4 was a huge threshold, one that almost completely separated the Shelter from the Wilderness.
"Now that you've stepped into Tier 3, I'm telling you this because I don't want you to awaken those messy abilities. Everyone's body has a limit. If you awaken too many abilities that aren't compatible with each other, it will directly affect your future advancement."
"Most of the Shelter's Aptitude Users have already started planning for promotion to Tier 4 when they're still Tier 1. They'll choose those abilities that are compatible with each other to awaken. This way, they won't waste their body's capacity, and they won't be blocked from reaching Tier 4 due to the lack of certain abilities."
Qi Yuan examined his abilities. Most of them were of the Iron Straight series. Judging from their names, they should be highly compatible with each other, but he wasn't sure if they were enough to reach Tier 4.
If he didn't get this information from Ling You, it would be a real tragedy if he waited until he used up all the Tier 3 Talents he got from signing in, upgraded these Tier 2 abilities to Tier 3, and finally obtained the pass to Tier 4, only to find that he still lacked a certain Tier 3 ability and couldn't construct a Tier 4 ability!
Apart from these, there was another problem. His Talent was obviously different from others, so the Shelter's information on constructing Tier 4 abilities might not be useful to him.
When it's time to reach Tier 4, the Talent Tree should give me a hint, right?
Qi Yuan thought silently.
Qi Yuan began to realize the value of the information Ling You revealed to him.
Not only could it save him a lot of detours, but it could also save him a lot of trouble. Although the Talent Tree definitely wouldn't point him to a dead end, if he could make arrangements in advance, it could also save him a lot of trouble.
After suppressing his chaotic thoughts, Qi Yuan continued to ask:
"Since the conditions for promotion to Tier 4 are so harsh, are these prerequisite abilities completely fixed and irreplaceable?
In addition, since the core mid-level ability is made up of multiple pre-level abilities, wouldn't there be differences in strength between different core abilities? "
Ling You suddenly laughed. From Qi Yuan's questions, she could feel Qi Yuan's confidence and ambition.
Only people who were certain that they would definitely reach Tier 4 and awaken core Tier 4 abilities would be concerned about these questions.
However, since Qi Yuan had asked, Ling You wouldn't hide it from him. She also wanted to know what gave Qi Yuan the confidence to withstand the pressure from Ke Shoulin and Feng Qian, and even kill Ke Shoulin's black glove without batting an eyelid.
Qi Yuan being able to reach Tier 4 so quickly meant that he had the talent to reach Tier 4. If he could really reach Tier 4, then he might be qualified to be her friend.
Roping in a Tier 3 Qi Yuan was much easier than roping in a Tier 4 Qi Yuan.
"The prerequisite abilities of a core mid-tier ability are not fixed. Many of the Shelter's ability diagrams are the result of many years of exploration and research. The construction of a core ability is risky, and recklessly replacing the prerequisite abilities will greatly increase the risk. Behind every ability diagram, there are many corpses of failures. Therefore, unless it's absolutely necessary, don't casually replace the prerequisite abilities when you're trying to reach Tier 4.
This is also the reason why the Shelter sealed off these diagrams.
The higher the tier of the ability, the more precious the corresponding ability diagram is. Even within the Shelter, it requires enough contribution points to exchange for it. "
"As for the strength of the ability, there will indeed be some differences."
"Normally, the stronger the prerequisite abilities, the stronger the final core ability will be. However, this rule isn't absolute. There are some other factors that can affect the strength of the core ability. For example, the aptitude user's basic strength, or the compatibility between abilities. Different core abilities will have differences in strength, and the same ability will also have differences in strength in different people."
"After Tier 4, the way an aptitude user can advance is also different from when they were at the lower tiers. Normally, when you awaken a core ability, you can advance to Tier 4. When you awaken a second ability, you'll advance to Tier 5. When you awaken three abilities, you'll advance to Tier 6. As for the higher Tier 7, that's another level!"
Qi Yuan's heart stirred. My basic abilities are practically an entire level above others. This means that the core abilities they construct will also be stronger. The number of abilities I have is also not small. If it's really as Ling You said, after stepping into Tier 4, my strength will definitely have an advantage among Tier 4.
In addition, since Tier 4 only has one core ability, does that mean my Tier 4 Check-In will only have one Tier 4 Check-In?
No!
Ling You said that it's normal, which means that there are still exceptions. If I have two core abilities at Tier 4, then am I still Tier 4?
Or Tier 5?
Ling You's words opened an invisible door for Qi Yuan, allowing him to learn many secrets related to mid-tier ability users that Wilderness Hunters would never be able to come into contact with.
In addition to this information about core abilities, Qi Yuan also keenly captured another piece of information from Ling You's words — contribution points!
The Gate of Truth's banknotes circulated in the wilderness. All kinds of information showed that these banknotes also had a certain purchasing power within the Shelter. However, when it came to those important and crucial things, the Shelter seemed to have another independent currency system — contribution points.
It was just unknown whether these contribution points were independent of each Shelter, or were they independent of the Gate of Truth, Doomsday Munitions, Theology Society, Flesh Alliance, and these other behemoths.
This conversation allowed Qi Yuan to peek into many secrets of Tier 4, but he knew that these secrets were bound to have a price tag.
"What do you need me to do?" Qi Yuan asked directly.
Ling You glanced at Qi Yuan. She was very satisfied with Qi Yuan being so tactful.
"Although you've stepped into Tier 3, you're still too weak for me."
Despising me for being weak in front of me?
You're such a clever little girl!
Qi Yuan silently said in his heart.
"When you step into Tier 4, or become a Tier 3 researcher in the Biological and Mechanical Research Laboratory, then come find me. At that time, you'll have the qualifications to cooperate with me!" Ling You said.
After saying this, Ling You minded her own business and drank her tea, no longer explaining anything.
Qi Yuan knew that this was the meaning of seeing him out, so he stood up and got up to leave.
After leaving Ling You's residence, Qi Yuan returned to Qu Shi's laboratory. Now that he had completely fallen out with Ke Shoulin, he couldn't go out and have fun. Staying in the Iron Chariots, he still had the protection of this big boss Ling You. Once he walked out of the Iron Chariots, he could die at any time.
Fortunately, the assessment was right in front of him. When he passed the assessment and became an official researcher in the Biological and Mechanical Research Laboratory, he would have an official identity as a protective talisman that should give him a certain degree of self-protection.
When he completed the Tier 3 check-in and officially advanced to Tier 4, or became a Tier 3 researcher, he should be able to officially make deals with Ling You, Tanqiu, and the others. If Ke Shoulin and Feng Qian wanted to target him again, they would have to consider the price they had to pay!
However, why hadn't the Tier 3 check-in appeared yet? The Tier 2 check-in had been completed for so many days, so the Tier 3 check-in should have appeared by now!
Just as Qi Yuan was puzzled, a familiar feedback suddenly appeared in his mind.
The Tier 3 check-in had been refreshed!
Qi Yuan's mind shook. He sensed the locations of several check-in points and found that it was as he had guessed before. They were all concentrated in the direction of the Black Steel Shelter. There wasn't a single wild check-in point.
That's interesting!
Thoughts flashed through Qi Yuan's mind. When the Talent Tree first appeared, he felt deeply shocked, but he had no idea what it was. It was only with the changes in the old city and the appearance of the Cyclops that Qi Yuan began to realize that something was wrong. This Talent Tree didn't seem to be a pure cheat. There were other secrets behind it.
Since the old city, Qi Yuan had wanted to investigate the Talent Tree's background. Qi Yuan had always wanted to figure out what this biggest secret of his was.
It was just that the Talent Tree was too mysterious, and it had the magical power of a creator, so Qi Yuan didn't know how to start.
Although he hadn't been able to pry into the roots of the Talent Tree, Qi Yuan vaguely discovered some rules of the Talent Tree's refresh after many check-ins.
The refresh of these check-in points wasn't completely mechanical and rigid. It seemed to be able to detect his own state and even refresh the check-in points according to the actual situation.
When the check-in points in the old city refreshed, Qi Yuan had this guess.
The refresh of the check-in points seemed to have its own intelligence. It wouldn't let him complete the check-in easily, but it wouldn't force him into a dead end either. Although the difficulty of the subsequent Tier 2 check-ins was somewhat unbalanced, if he looked at it from a different perspective and considered the Seraph as his own strength, those check-ins were just a little more difficult. They didn't completely exceed the limits of what he could deal with.
The check-in points had refreshed in several special places. Following this guidance, he successfully obtained a large amount of Asterite and awakened several powerful abilities. At the same time, he also controlled the Seraph.
To a certain extent, this was a kind of guidance from the Talent Tree for his awakened abilities. Judging from the awakening method of Tier 4 abilities, these abilities were very likely the foreshadowing of the Talent Tree for his advancement to Tier 4.
The reason why he had made preparations to enter the Black Steel Shelter before the Tier 3 check-in points refreshed this time was also to take the initiative to test the Talent Tree.
If the Talent Tree could really sense his situation at any time and was willing to change for his sake, then after he made these preparations, the refresh of the check-in points should be limited to the Black Steel Shelter.
The refresh of these Tier 3 check-in points just happened to confirm Qi Yuan's guess. As he expected, they refreshed in the Black Steel Shelter.
Although this might just be a probability event, Qi Yuan was more inclined to believe that this was a kind of accommodation the Talent Tree had for him.
To Qi Yuan, a powerful Cheat that was willing to accommodate him was definitely more useful than a mechanical and rigid Cheat.