Il Ji was learning a lot of things on this subfloor. Some he already knew, some he didn't.
When beasts evolve, they are often given an 'evolution token' to help guide them. This token could be a number of materials, from metal, plant, 'shroom, to body parts of higher-ranked beasts.
To be safe, beasts would only use evolution tokens of the rank they were promoting to.
However, beasts with a higher bloodlines tended to skip evolution tokens altogether- unless someone was trying to change or mutate the bloodline. However, a [Myth] bloodline is a [Myth]-level bloodline for a reason, and diluting it could render the beast unable to make the [Myth] rank as long as they lived.
After sorting through the knowledge in his mind, Il Ji walked up to another scientist.
"When a beast evolves, their evolution form is based on several things." The scientist was saying.
"First, you have the inital form. Then, you have the bloodline form. After that comes the evolution token, or tokens, and after that comes the learned skills."
"That is, up until [Legend], when a beast begins to require an additional need per rank. But, based on these four qualities, a beast can change greatly from [Copper] to [Diamond]."
"If you plan it right, a snake can turn into a turtle, and vice versa. On the other hand, if a beast is too differentiated from its original form, it can get locked in place, and fail the evolution over and over again. Some ill-equipped beasts may even lose their lives trying."
"This being said, there is another reason why an evolutionary branch will begin to show signs of stopping: when it comes to [Myth] and [Archaic], there is only 1 or 2 paths forward we can take for a given beast. It's finding them that can take aeons."
"For a beast of the same litter in a [Myth] bloodline, the skills, tokens, fate enlightenments, must all match their bloodline for both to make it to the prestigious [Myth] rank."
"Of course, a beast can make it to the [Myth] rank by falling away from their bloodline; but, the process must start much earlier."
"This being said, for bloodline beasts, you don't need evolution tokens or skills. You just leave them as is, and they'll learn the necessary traits beforehand."
"The other way is to gutload a beast with a large number of skills on a certain path- say, tide, lotus, sky, mammoth, and tyrant? Once you give them a lot of skills on a coexisting theme, they can break through their barriers and go up in rank."
'This is the evolution path I'm depending on.' Il Ji thought to himself.
As the scientist finished, he thanked him and visited the next. Several scientists later, he was finished and could move to the next floor.
He took the elevator and shortly arrived on subfloor six.
Once he arrived, he once again saw themed enclosures like he had seen on floors 9 through 11.
Looking around, he began to look at the skill lists and information on the walls next to the panes of glass. After some poking around, he realized some truths.
Firstly, they started with the [Emerald] beast projects. There weren't any of Sapphire, Ruby, or below. It appeared that the government thought these beasts 'not worthy' of further development.
Secondly, it appeared that all the heads of the [Emerald] projects were Grade 3 Creation Masters, corresponding to the Bronze Rank.
'Is the Creation Master Qualification test that hard?'
Although cultivation took time for most, with Jackpots' [Treasure Cultivation] skill and cultivation feedback, he was expecting to be in the bronze rank within the next one or two weeks.
While most of the research assistants above him were not of the creation master class, He had yet to notice even a Tier 1 Creation Master certificate, let alone a Tier 2.
Tier 3 was equivalent to the Bronze rank level, so if Tier 3 was here at Emerald it only proved to show the country's shortage of the world's most valuable (and richest) profession.
Il Ji continued walking until he reached the end of all of the enclosures. Noticing a pillar in the corner of the floor, he smirked before once again finding the elevator.
The elevator quickly took him to the seventh floor. It was fairly uneventful until he reached an enclosure with a stone elemental and several talking researchers.
Unlike the other, empty areas on each floor, it appeared to be an active research zone.
Noticing that the researchers were talking about local sports, he decided to butt in and ask about the preeminent question on his mind.
"Hey, what are those stones?"
"Seen them around, have you?"
Il Ji nodded. He had been seeing them all across nearly every floor: from being used as paperweights, holding up desk legs, working as cupholders, separating the hotter-running devices from their desks so that the fans ran properly, and more.
They were skinny and flat, with the edges being rounded. A small mark was etched onto the bottom plane.
"These here are somewhat special, but we certainly have them in excess." The scientist was flipping one of the stones in his hand. "Here, have one."
With a twist of his wrist the scientist sent it flying towards Il Ji, who caught it nimbly.
"Originally, we were planning to duplicate one of our country's most famous [Myth] rank beasts, the [Skill Fragmentation Stone Elemental]. As the name implies, the beast was able to produce Skill Fragmentation stones."
"These stones were shaped like spikes, and could allow the holder to fragment one of their skills into its most basest of forms. Then, the stones dissipate into dust."
"These stones are the preeminent reason that we, the Chrono Federation, are at the forefront of skill research."
"Anyways, we tried to reproduce the beast but ended up with a different surprise: the [Myth] rank [Skill Unlocking Stone Elemental] beast."
"Practically the inverse, these stones are round, flat, and unlock locked skills."
"You might not know this, but due to different factors some bloodline beasts may be born with skills above their bloodline rank. If this happens, the skill is locked until they increase their rank and the beast itself gains a higher chance to exceed their bloodline ranking."
"Consider it a gift from me, Ron Gardner. If anyone asks, it was I that gave it to you."
"Thank you, Ron. I'm sure to remember this."
Waving at the man, Il Ji walked forward and once again entered the elevator. Closing the elevator doors, he let Jackpot back out for a moment, tossed him the stone, and sent him back to the soul space.
Feeling Jackpot's excitement, he knew it had worked.
Smirking to himself, he opened the door to subfloor 8.
There wasn't much here. Subfloor 8 had four [Platinum] enclosures and one at [Diamond] rank. One of the [Platinum] Beasts, the [Dewback Milktoter], was a strategic beast that gave off a large amount of extra-nutritious milk.
However, it didn't sell for as much as other [Platinum] rank materials, and tallied against the other beasts he had seen the choice was simply not worth it.
His tour nearly concluded, he took the elevator back to 11. Stepping out, he once again looked for the pillar on the corner of the floor. Finding it tacked between two large enclosures, he immediately left the floor and took the elevator back to Subfloor-3.
Arriving on the training floor, he quickly found the location marking the pillar he had seen on floors 4-11. It seemed that Jarvis had avoided showing them to him.
With the push of a button, he opened the door and stepped onto the enclosed carriage.
'Goooingg Dooooowwwnn!!!'