From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

For Li Yi, a black-scaled crocodile, the first three levels of the Qi Refining stage only increased some instinctive powers, such as spitting out highly poisonous water bullets and manipulating silt within a certain range.

When he reached the fourth level of Qi Refining and a fourth ink scale grew on his back, everything changed.

The new trait Li Yi acquired is the ability to conceal his aura while simultaneously releasing his senses, making the crocodile's instinctive hunting methods—ambush—more covert and harder to detect.

Li Yi was very satisfied with this ability. He never needed it under normal circumstances, but now he was able to use it.

He sensed that an object with an extremely terrifying aura had fallen not far from Li Yi.

It was a somewhat grime-covered fragment, which looked like it was left behind after some kind of bead broke apart.

In my perception, the fragments were extremely terrifying, seemingly originating from the dragon shadow that had just made its final desperate attempt, and now it had been blasted here.

An instinctive urge spread rapidly after he sensed it, making Li Yi almost unable to resist rushing out and swallowing it whole.

If you swallow it whole, it will surely bring about a tremendous change in yourself!

Animals, especially those that have embarked on the path of cultivation, possess exceptionally accurate sensory instincts.

But Li Yi still managed to suppress him.

Something deeper was warning it, something beyond animalistic instinct, something closer to a kind of premonition.

It lurked in the mud, watching everything.

After that explosion, everything outside seemed to quiet down. The thunder and roars were gone, leaving only the faint sounds of wind and rain.

Li Yi lay hidden deep in the mud, unable to see what was happening in the distance; it was currently focused on that fragment.

It was somewhat reluctant, but dared not move.

Judging from the faint aura emanating from the fragments alone, this thing is of extraordinary quality, far exceeding my own level.

This deadly temptation...

Li Yi wagged its tail in the mud, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Soon after, everything seemed to have remained unchanged. In Li Yi's perception, the fragments were sinking into the mud at an extremely slow speed.

"Quack?"

The toad with its wide-open eyes and mouth twitched its hind legs.

Li Yi also noticed this commotion clearly.

After a while, the toad's right eyeball moved again, recovering from its dull state, and scanned the fragments with a darting motion.

After a long time, the toad suddenly stood up, mustered all its strength, and leaped with a croak, covering a distance of ten feet, swallowing the fragment in one gulp.

"Quack...quack quack quack!"

The toad shuddered, its body rapidly expanding, and the surrounding active spiritual energy of heaven and earth instantly converged into a vortex, flowing towards it.

In just a moment, the toad's green skin turned purple, its body swelled to five times its original size, its eyes grew much larger, and its aura expanded rapidly.

He leaped from an ordinary beast to the fifth level of Qi Refining!

Although its aura was unstable, it was exceptionally powerful and was still growing visibly, clearly indicating that it had received tremendous benefits, a truly earth-shattering transformation.

Just as it was about to leave, something flashed past in the sky, outside Li Yi's perception range, like an endless snake sweeping across at lightning speed.

boom!

A dark shadow flashed by, whipping the toad, which had just been bulging with energy, to pieces, revealing the fragments inside its belly.

Li Yi shuddered and quickly suppressed his aura, even temporarily halting his heartbeat, leaving him completely still.

The shadowy figure went from motionless to still, revealing its true form.

It was a deep purple vine, with a sharp thorn every so often, the tip of which was pitch black.

The vines were surprisingly flexible, more supple than a human hand, and they curled up the fragments and disappeared.

Now everything has truly quieted down.

Li Yi closed his eyes, pondering what had just happened.

The aura emanating from the vine was immense, extending beyond the limits of perception, far beyond anything I could compare to.

Perhaps I reacted quickly enough to avoid being discovered?

Li Yi had no idea, but now it was completely too afraid to move.

Soon, Li Yi continued to sink until he reached his current limit before stopping.

At this distance, its perception can just reach the ground, allowing it to constantly monitor any movement on the ground.

High in the sky, the clouds and mist were chaotic, and the atmosphere changed drastically.

Viewed from above, the giant crater had changed dramatically, now shrouded in a thick, purplish-blue mist. This mist was so dense that even the wind couldn't blow it away, and it exuded a terrifying aura.

If Li Yi saw it with his own eyes, he would only panic and run away.

That's a terrible poison; contact with it is fatal!

In the air, a large clump of vines, each the size of several houses, was bound together and hovered eerily on the east side of the giant pit, with several vines extending out from it and reaching towards the purple mist.

Unexpectedly, the moment they touched it, the tip of the vine immediately lost its vitality, and another shade of purple rapidly extended along the tip of the vine towards the rest of the vine.

In the blink of an eye, the distance was several feet.

Fortunately, the vine broke off immediately, preventing the rapidly spreading poison from spreading.

On the west side of the giant crater, a grayish-white cloud hovered in mid-air, condensing and refusing to dissipate. From time to time, a furry claw would emerge from within it, also grabbing a fragment.

On the swampy ground south of the giant pit, a three-legged golden toad the size of a millstone stood still, its large eyes, a jewel-like blue, scanning its surroundings.

Soon, it slightly raised its right forelimb, and a piece of debris came flying through the air.

It glanced at the fragment, moved its mouth slightly, and then stared intently at the large crater shrouded in purple mist.

Li Yi was unaware that, despite its best efforts to hide itself, it had already been discovered.

However, it is weak and has little value.

After a long enough time, Li Yi slowly emerged from the mud, opened his mouth in several places, and swallowed the toad's remains.

A strange and powerful energy spread through Li Yi's body, making him feel somewhat satisfied.

This was only the toad that had swallowed the fragment not long ago; if it had swallowed the entire fragment...

You will die.

Li Yi looked in that direction again, first seeing the giant pit shrouded in purple mist, and then a distorted shadow looming in the sky.

Hurry up and leave.

This was the only thought in Li Yi's mind at that moment.

As Li Yi rapidly moved away from the area, he kept an eye on his surroundings.

At this moment, the fresh air of the swamp is gradually being replaced by yellow toxic miasma emerging from the silt, which has already taken on a faint yellow hue.

Everything seemed to be back on track.

Li Yi stopped thinking about the giant pit, even though he knew there must be something extremely precious inside.

The distorted giant shadow in mid-air confirmed its long-held suspicions.

Huge creatures lurk in the swamp, but they never show themselves.