Chapter 52: Player Advancement

What a truly good person!
No, calling him that feels a bit strange, especially since there is no way to be certain that this big shot is even human.
Anyway, how fortunate! Xiao Yang felt that he had truly met a wonderful group of senior experts!
Shortly after, in the quiet group chat of the Justice Squad, Xiao Yang poked his head out.
[A True Novice!: Seniors, does anyone know what the tier-advancement process is like?]

Soon, someone in the chat answered Xiao Yang's question. Although the group usually remained very quiet, quite a few high-level experts seemed to silently lurk and monitor the messages. The one who answered Xiao Yang was the Daoist practitioner. Judging by the name, this senior was likely a player from the Eastern cultivation system.
[Daoist Practitioner: Tier advancement, eh? It seems you, my young friend, have also reached this crucial step. Advancement, advancement—it is more of a transformative threshold. Breaking through it allows you to walk further along the path of transcendence much more smoothly.]

Through the explanation of the Daoist expert, Xiao Yang gradually gained a deeper understanding of tier advancement.
Every stage for a player comes with a fixed attribute upper limit. Not every player is able to touch this limit; depending on their circumstances and encounters, some might reach the attribute cap, while the majority simply toil along as they move forward.

Take Xiao Yang, for example. If he had not acquired the Urn of Greed, and without any class or special talent, relying solely on the mediocre racial template of an ordinary human, it would have been impossible for him to touch the attribute cap of twenty points when he reached level ten.

Ordinary players of the Gods' Game do not need to break through boundaries to advance in tiers. Every ten levels, the boundary naturally loosens for them to a certain extent. If Xiao Yang chose not to advance his tier, he could still continue pushing his attributes upward even after reaching level ten.

However, among any group, there are ordinary fellows and those who are less ordinary. Among the players of the Gods' Game, the unusual ones are those like Xiao Yang who can hit the limit attributes before reaching a fixed level. At this point, the fixed upper limit becomes a restriction instead. Thus, tier advancement becomes the path provided by the Gods' Game for Xiao Yang and other unusual individuals to take a step further.

After tier advancement, players can attain higher attribute caps while receiving a set of unique bonuses.
The advancement process is quite simple: whenever a player reaches a multiple of ten levels and a particular attribute reaches its peak, they can choose to advance that specific attribute. They can advance a single attribute or all attributes that have reached the limit.

However, one must be cautious. Even if multiple attributes have reached the upper limit, it is best not to try and upgrade all of them at once.
Tier advancement is a rather perilous trial. The Gods' Game will usually issue a dangerous challenge based on your specific situation. The difficulty is immense, and this is the necessary process to prove to the Gods' Game that you are extraordinary.
The more you demand, the more perilous the trial will be.

Speaking of this, the Daoist practitioner offered a warning to Xiao Yang.
[Daoist Practitioner: Young friend, I know your innate talent might be quite exceptional, but you must still be cautious when undergoing tier advancement and act within your capabilities!]
[A True Novice!: Understood.]

Xiao Yang's situation was extremely special. All four of his attributes had reached the peak of this stage. Should he follow the Daoist expert's advice and act within his capabilities, or should he go all in and take the "I want them all" route?
This was a question. As Xiao Yang pondered it, he soon made up his mind. In truth, once he possessed the Urn of Greed, his choice was basically set.
He was different from other players of the Gods' Game. Even if other players greedily chose to take everything, they might not truly be able to push all their attributes back to the peak in the next stage. The cost and difficulty of improving every single attribute were simply too great, making trade-offs an inevitable choice.

After all, the benefits of wanting everything might not be obvious, but the drawbacks of wanting everything would manifest immediately: a skyrocketing difficulty in the tier-advancement trial.
Yet Xiao Yang was different. He possessed the Urn of Greed. Under such circumstances, even knowing the exorbitant difficulty that demanding everything would bring, he would inevitably choose to take them all.

The name of the Urn of Greed matched its function perfectly. Possessing it practically destined one to be greedy; otherwise, it would be utterly useless to him.
The only question was whether the current Xiao Yang had the confidence to face that potentially outrageous trial of difficulty. If he survived it, he would gain everything; if he failed, he would be left with nothing, as players only get one chance at tier advancement every ten levels.

Amidst his reflections, Xiao Yang came to a single conclusion.
We will cross that bridge when we come to it!
When soldiers come, block them with general; when water comes, block it with earth. If he cleared a few more layers of dungeons and managed to get more equipment, perhaps the problem wouldn't be a problem anymore. Oh right, there were also skills and classes.
Right now, apart from the stat boosts from his equipment, all four of Xiao Yang's attributes had reached twenty points—the peak before a single tier advancement—and could go no higher. This meant he could now focus more of his energy and attention on equipment, skills, and classes.

Still, there was no need to be overly anxious. Although Xiao Yang was already level nine, he was still quite a way off from level ten, especially when he looked at the sheer number of experience points required to level up, featuring a seemingly endless string of zeros.
For now, it was better to worry a bit more about his gemstone worm breeding farm.
Earning more money would always come in handy no matter what.

He continued to voice his questions in the group.
[A True Novice!: Does any senior know any information regarding gemstone worms?!]

This time, it wasn't the Daoist who chimed in, but the senior whose ID was Mage's Hand Is So Useful. The message began with an emoticon of a transparent giant hand paired with two large, staring eyeballs, followed by a very direct statement.
[Mage's Hand Is So Useful: I have some here, and I can even sell you a small elemental pool to cultivate the gemstone worms. But I don't want spiritual coins; I want those pure gemstones.]

A flurry of messages popped up right after. Not only did the Mage's Hand poke his head out, but the Daoist practitioner also chimed in.
[Daoist Practitioner: Elemental pools still carry the risk of magical energy leakage. Young friend, I happen to have a spare small concealment array set. If you don't have any preventive measures, it would be best to use that in combination with it.]

In an instant, a complete set of equipment and procedures concerning breeding guides, living environments, and site setup appeared in the dialogue between Mage's Hand and the Daoist practitioner. As expected of senior experts, they truly had an abundance of good things on hand.

Faced with such a situation, Xiao Yang naturally would not refuse.
[A True Novice!: Deal!]

Before long, Xiao Yang's gemstone worm breeding enterprise would finally be able to get off the ground.
With the transaction completed, Xiao Yang traded away almost all his pure gemstones—save for the Heart of Life and the flame gemstone—along with a large batch of ordinary gemstones he had dug out from the mine shafts. In return, he obtained a small elemental pool, a copy of *A Miscellany of Magical Beasts*, a small concealment array set, five clay golems, and one set each of three types of talismans: Lightness, Fireball, and Golden Light.

The clay golems and the three sets of talismans were extra gifts from the Daoist practitioner and Mage's Hand to him as a newcomer and junior in the group. Although they weren't as precious as the World Tree's protective leaf, Xiao Yang was more than satisfied.
The clay golems could help him mine and do physical labor, while the talismans would further enrich his repertoire of abilities.

He politely expressed his gratitude to the two senior experts.
Basically, everything he wanted to accomplish this time had been done. A complete success! Next up would be diligently grinding for experience and preparing for tier advancement.