"Pick one from a hundred common races?" Luo’an pondered for a moment before speaking slowly, "I’ve read about your Beast King Race in ancient books. It’s one of the world’s top races that esteems strength. Therefore, you can eliminate the strength-type races first because the goal of your evolution is to comprehend the specialties and talents of this race. You already possess the best talent among strength-type races. Other races of this type have nothing more for you to learn and no talents worth comprehending. Hence, you should choose an aspect where you’re weakest to evolve and make up for your shortcomings."
"Then, which race do you think I should choose to evolve into?" Huang Yi asked. This evolution was only semi-free; he could only choose from a hundred common races. He had a general understanding of these hundred races, but he wasn’t very proficient, and he was uncertain for the moment. The next evolution would probably offer more freedom, with a wider target range, and eventually, there might be no requirements at all. He could evolve however he wanted, and then he could just pick from the top races to evolve without any concerns.
"That also depends on your class. You have to take various factors into consideration when choosing," Luo’an replied slowly. "Your rare class is Judge, which relies on absorbing rage to release skills. Therefore, the speed of rage accumulation is a key aspect of your strength. Many warrior-type classes fight by drawing on rage. Based on my study of these warrior-type classes, rage does not necessarily have to be drawn from attacks; it can also be accumulated when taking damage. It’s just that you are still too low level to have this ability."
As Luo’an spoke, he glanced at Huang Yi, pushed his glasses up, and continued, "So, your Judge class needs to improve its ability to take hits, including constitution, defense, resistance, and various other survival abilities. This will allow you to sustain more damage and accumulate rage faster."
"Do you mean I should choose a race that has strong survival abilities?" Huang Yi asked, and this immediately narrowed down the potential races a lot. Among the hundred common races, there were about twenty that focused on survival abilities. Some leaned towards constitution, possessing more Health Points; some leaned toward defense, able to withstand more attack damage, and others leaned toward resistance, able to repel various adverse elements and statuses, each with its own strengths.
"Yes!" Luo’an nodded and continued analyzing, "However, your Health Points should still be decent, considering the Judge has a 10% Constitution Bonus. In terms of defense, you wear chainmail, and the defensive power of chainmail is not bad. It may not be as high as that of plate or heavy armor, but it’s much stronger than cloth or leather armor. Therefore, your best choice would be one of the common races that focus on resistance!"
"Resistance?" Huang Yi’s mind immediately conjured up an image of a race with golden skin, and he blurted out, "Half-Beastmen!"
"Hmm, Half-Beastmen could work. Their viral resistance is very high, granting them 95% immunity to toxin damage and disease damage, almost total immunity. Additionally, the Draenei are also good; they are devout followers of the Holy Light and naturally possess shadow resistance. There are also the Ice Mountain Dwarves, who have a bias toward water and ice attribute resistance, almost the natural nemesis of ice magic mages. Lastly, Elemental Spirits, which have some resistance to various magic elements. Although not very high in bonus, their overall coverage is better. Aside from these four common races, there are other races that have resistance abilities, but their bonus levels are not high and are not specialized; I advise you not to choose them," Luo’an detailed.
"Half-Beastmen, Draenei, Glacier Dwarves, Elemental Spirits." Huang Yi listed these four races in his mind, weighing his options. Luo’an had helped him narrow down his choices from a hundred to these final four, and now the decision rested with him alone.
After pondering for a while and comparing the different aspects, Huang Yi finally chose the Half-Beastmen!
There were three main reasons for his choice.
The first reason was the Leader-level Boss of the 9th Stage of the Tower of Pantheons, the Great Gardener. This Boss was a master of diseases and toxins. Huang Yi had not been able to defeat him before because his poison resistance was too low. To collect a set of gear specifically for poison resistance was troublesome, and Huang Yi’s funds were not sufficient to acquire many pieces of equipment. If he evolved into a Half-Beastman, it would be much more convenient due to their extremely high disease and toxin resistance.
The second reason was the need to absorb a crystal corresponding to the selected race during evolution. A Crystal is considered high-end material, and it’s difficult to obtain as only Leader-level Bosses drop them. Huang Yi had previously killed Young Master Barbarian Hammer of Wind Forest Stronghold and looted a Half-Beast Crystal, which could now be put to use. If he chose another race, he would have to expend great effort to kill another Leader-level Boss, a task highly challenging. Huang Yi’s success in killing Barbarian Hammer was a matter of being in the right place at the right time; Leader-level bosses aren’t easy prey.
The third reason was a comparison of the four races themselves. Elemental Spirits were not humanoid, and Huang Yi wanted to maintain a human form, thus eliminating them. Ice Mountain Dwarves were of dwarven form which didn’t match Huang Yi’s combat style; he fought with brutal weapons, which were enormously large, such as the Ziwu Barbarian Hammer that measured five or six meters just in length. It was not suitable for a dwarf to wield such a massive weapon in battle. Lastly, the Draenei were a race that revered the Holy Light, while Huang Yi’s bloodline of Nefalem was indeed more sinister, focused on slaughter, conflicting with the Draenei’s beliefs.
Considering all these factors, the Half-Beastmen, out of the hundred common races, were the best fit for Huang Yi!
This seemed like a twist of fate; the first common race Huang Yi encountered were the three Half-Beastmen with Chen Yuxi, and the first race he made enemies with were the Half-Beastmen of Wind Forest Stronghold. Now, for his first evolution, it was still the Half-Beastmen.
"Grandpa Luo’an, thank you for your guidance. I’m going to get busy with the evolution," Huang Yi said, bidding Luo’an farewell before leaving the Warrior Hall.
He then went to the Teleportation Field and teleported to the 8th Stage of the Tower of Pantheons, which was the highest level he had managed to clear.
Huang Yi killed all the monsters, including Bosses, Elites, and small fries, ensuring nothing was left before he took out the Half-Beast Crystal from his storage ring, ready to begin evolution.
His reason for evolving there was because of the lessons learned from his last Metamorphosis. If there was any place in The Second World that was the safest, it certainly wasn’t the Respawn Point but the secret realms. Respawn Points could be destroyed, such as when Huang Yi had used the Demon Monkey to demolish the Respawn Point of Wind Forest Stronghold, but secret realms could not be destroyed. The Tower of Pantheons lay in a mysterious and unknown void, its location untraceable. Moreover, this was a room scaled for one person; nobody else could enter.