In response to Shenying's questioning, Yuluo simply offered a faint smile and nodded.
"Yes, thanks to Guild Master Black Flame's help, I was lucky enough to advance successfully."
But even with Yuluo's definitive answer, the tall, cold Shenying still couldn't bring himself to believe it for a long while. However, the aura of life radiating from Yuluo's body didn't lie—the gap in their life force was something no amount of base attributes could bridge.
"Team Leader Yuluo, that's incredible!" Fan Muran, standing nearby, was also stunned. Once he recovered, he quickly exclaimed in delight, "Right now, Cao Mu Yiqiu is the only Tier 4 player on all of Dragon Heart Island. If you've advanced to Tier 4, then you'd be the second Tier 4 powerhouse on the island! If the Commander finds out, he'll definitely be thrilled!"
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In this current era, Tier 3 Classes were no longer the powerhouses who ruled the world—that domain now belonged to Tier 4 Classes.
If a force had a Tier 4 Class holding it down, its standing and influence would increase dramatically. It could even rise overnight to become a regional power that even NPC forces wouldn't dare provoke carelessly.
Yuluo looked at Shenying, who still hadn't reacted after all this time, and couldn't help but ask with a smile: "Vice Commander Shenying, can I go with Guild Master Black Flame now?"
"You're already a Tier 4 Class—I naturally can't stop you, and there really is no need to." Shenying sighed with emotion, never having imagined that in such a short time, Yuluo had grown into someone he could only look up to. He then added, "But I'll be going with you as well. Because of the system's major upgrade, Dragon Heart Island is completely different from before. With me as your guide, you'll avoid a lot of trouble."
"Vice Commander Shenying, I'd like to come along too. Right now, in all of Blade of the Firmament, besides the Commander, I have the highest standing in Dragon Heart City. The NPCs probably won't give us too much trouble," Fan Muran also offered.
"Standing? Trouble?" Yuluo looked confused, not understanding what Fan Muran was talking about.
When had entering Dragon Heart City started requiring players to have a certain level of standing?
But Shi Feng, standing nearby, understood perfectly.
After the system's major upgrade, as NPCs became the mainstream of the Divine Realm, those NPCs had also become far more realistic—especially the NPC forces. Though each NPC force was formidable, they all operated under the banner of various kingdoms and empires, or served under major lords in neutral cities like Dragon Heart City.
On the surface, these NPCs wouldn't dare act against players openly within NPC cities, but they could use their official positions to make things very difficult for player forces. Something as simple as entering or exiting the city could keep players stranded for half a day, preventing them from coming and going freely—let alone everything else.
This was why a player's standing in NPC cities had become so important.
This kind of standing was different from the noble titles players could earn. It referred to holding an actual position of authority within an NPC city—essentially, a post with real power.
As for players from before, even those who held the titles of high-ranking nobles, those were now nothing more than empty titles—more like achievements players had earned that came with certain perks.
For example, the privilege of recruiting guards, and so on. But to NPCs after the system upgrade, these things were meaningless. The only useful aspect was that such titles allowed players to recruit powerful NPCs who could protect them...
Just like when he had visited the Twin Towers Kingdom before. The senior clerk at the city hall had addressed him in an entirely different way.
Gone were the respectful titles from before—Bronze Inheritor, Lord Baron, and all those kinds of honorifics. All he received was a perfunctory "this gentleman." It wasn't until he presented his proof of affiliation with the War God Temple that the senior clerk addressed him as "Guild Master" with proper respect. The reason was simple: he was the recognized guild master of a guild endorsed by the War God Temple.
And having standing in an NPC city was comparable to being a vice mayor.
Otherwise, in front of that senior clerk, he would have been nobody.
Of course, if he had directly revealed his Tier 4 status, he would have received different treatment. But even then, it still fell short compared to players who held actual positions of power. After all, no Tier 4 Class player would dare actually start a fight inside an NPC city—unless they had a death wish. So these NPCs, as long as they weren't the wandering adventurer type, had no reason to fear a player's Tier 4 status.
"Fine, you can come with us." Shenying glanced at Fan Muran, somewhat exasperated, but what Fan Muran said was true.
If Fan Muran weren't a squad leader in Dragon Heart City's Dragon Heart Knights, getting out through the city gates alone would have been difficult enough—let alone escaping from Dragon Heart Island entirely.