From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

A faint vitality, like a spring breeze and gentle rain, emanated from the hollow of the large willow tree. Li Yi turned his head to carefully sense this vigorous vitality, then came to the front of the hollow of the large willow tree and stuck his head inside.

A sudden burst of bright green light illuminated its massive, black-scaled head, making Li Yi's brownish-yellow eyes appear emerald green.

However, this vitality did not bring Li Yi any joy; instead, he felt a sense of urgency.

The mother crocodile's petrified body was no longer silent; instead, an extremely powerful wood-elemental force flowed within it, surging like waves, one higher than the next.

This is not a normal foundation-building process. It is clearly gathering all its strength, preparing for a final breakthrough, and embarking on a dangerous path, directly cutting off its escape route.

What happened?

Li Yi slowly retreated from the tree hole of the big willow tree, feeling that the sunlight above his head had weakened slightly. A thought flashed through his mind, and he realized something.

The poisonous barrier around us was thicker than before, blocking out more sunlight, and it seemed to be intensifying.

For an entity like this, which has cultivated a swampy soil environment, the changes in this poisonous barrier, though subtle, can be clearly perceived.

All these strange phenomena that suddenly appeared seemed to have been formed under the influence of this heat that suddenly spread here.

Is it some kind of disaster?

After thinking for a moment, Li Yi had the white python guard the big willow tree, while he headed directly towards the strange tree.

In just a short time, the poisonous barrier around us thickened again, the light dimmed slightly, and the strange tree surrounded by a transparent shield came into view.

Inside the protective shield, billowing black mist was flowing, expanding and contracting like breathing, making the outline of the strange tree inside almost invisible.

The rumbling sound of flowing black mist pierced through the protective barrier and rang in Li Yi's ears. Immediately afterwards, Li Yi saw an antelope at the third level of Qi Refining leap up and pass straight through the protective barrier into the black mist.

The rustling swamp creatures, especially those with cultivation, all seemed to be drawn towards the strange tree as if by some kind of attraction.

Li Yi thought for a moment, then retreated several feet, before spitting out a poison bullet that exploded on the protective shield.

Almost instantly, a black beam of light burst through the fog, creating ripples on the transparent shield, and shot towards Li Yi.

The strange tree seemed to be able to see through the increasingly turbulent yellow mist surrounding Li Yi, and the jet-black beam of light was aimed directly at Li Yi's back.

In an instant, Li Yi's body's instincts replaced his brain's thinking, and he subconsciously sank into the mud, narrowly avoiding the attack.

The black light slanted across Li Yi's back, corroding a series of black scales, grazed Li Yi's tail, scraped off a protruding horn scale, and left a deep hole in the mud behind Li Yi.

Li Yi sensed its madness and left without looking back.

In that instant, Li Yi sensed that its aura was extremely unstable, fluctuating between the ninth level of Qi Refining and the Foundation Establishment stage, like a powder keg about to explode.

Looking around the territory with a worried expression, Li Yi's eyes fell on a toad whose lower body was trapped in the mud.

It struggled desperately, but the mud beneath its feet had hardened due to loss of moisture, trapping it alive.

Many shallow-rooted marshland plants withered within hours, leaving behind large patches of drooping grass that had begun to turn yellow.

Li Yi sensed that this was already the boundary of its territory; further ahead lay the territory of the Blue-Eyed Golden Toad clan.

That warm current flowing deep underground was spreading from the front.

Some swamp creatures were fleeing, while Li Yi went against the current, advancing through the increasingly stagnant silt, exploring in that direction.

It needs to know what happened over there and why it has affected itself.

But after advancing for a short time, Li Yi had to put his feet firmly on the dry, cracked, white mud, looking at the desolate scene ahead.

The surroundings grew increasingly hot, and Li Yi even spotted scattered blue-eyed toads fleeing or fighting with other swamp creatures.

Everything fell into chaos.

A dense cloud of yellow mist rolled in, sweeping across the dry, hardened ground like a gust of wind, covering the vast area, and slowly moving in one direction.

Many swamp creatures avoided the yellow mist with fear, as if they sensed a terrifying aura lurking within it.

Suddenly, the yellow mist, which had been stationary, abruptly expanded its range, and Li Yi inside was already prepared for a fierce battle.

Just ahead, a large group of blue-eyed toads passed by, heading towards the source of the heat flow; among them were several familiar faces.

These were the same few they had encountered when they seized the Ganoderma lucidum. At this moment, they were anxiously rolling their eyes, working together to control a jade bowl.

The jade bowl contained a cool, spiritual energy, and Li Yi instantly sensed that it was some kind of spiritual spring, of even higher quality than the blue spiritual spring he had encountered before.

However, they only glanced at the yellow mist before hurrying on their way, going against the flow of fleeing creatures, and soon disappeared into the distance.

Li Yi thought for a moment and quickly caught up with him.

The mud beneath his feet had become increasingly dry and hard, gradually radiating a desert-like heat. The air itself was distorted by the heat, as was the yellow mist surrounding Li Yi.

As a creature of the swamp, Li Yi instinctively rejected the desert-like heat.

Soon, right in front of it, a dead blue-eyed toad lying on the cracked mud caught its attention.

This blue-eyed golden toad is completely dead. Its kind loathes this heat even more, and those without cultivation will probably die soon.

Li Yi stopped for the second time because a cloud of yellow mist appeared ahead.

The two clouds of yellow mist remained still at the same time, but after a while, they began to flow and merge together.

Within the thick poisonous barrier, Li Yi once again saw the enormous yellow crocodile, which seemed to be trying to escape as well.

So Li Yi stopped the other person and asked them through body language.

"That's strange, you're so powerful, yet you can't speak?"

The yellow crocodile spoke in a low, hoarse female voice, and then said, "Run! The phosphorescent calamity is about to occur. Get as far away from here as possible."

After some conversation, Li Yi only knew that the phosphorescent fire disaster was the most terrifying calamity in the swamp, but Huang E had not experienced it firsthand and could not say anything, only that he had to escape.

The farther away you get, the better.

After thinking it over, Li Yi parted ways with it, and they each went in different directions.

Its escape route should pass by the big willow tree, but there is a white python there. Staying by the big willow tree, which can resist the poison barrier, should not be a problem.

Following the heat flow to its source, Li Yi stepped into a region where the poisonous aura was becoming increasingly dense, and saw many beings radiating powerful pressure.

There were dozens of blue-eyed golden toads at the ninth level of Qi cultivation, guarding a small, gray, protruding hill. The surrounding area was extremely hot.