From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

After racking his brains without finding a solution, the white python stopped being puzzled and began to clumsily mimic Li Yi's movements.

It is imitating Li Yi.

However, despite its greater agility, it had no effect whatsoever.

Li Yi's feelings came from the dragon undergoing its tribulation. That scene was deeply imprinted in its mind, and it was impossible to understand it without seeing it with its own eyes.

The white python's movements were lifeless and lacked spirit.

After a while, the white python simply coiled around Li Yi, and the two worked together to absorb and exhale more moonlight, both benefiting from it.

As the night passed, Li Yi fell into a strange state, and even as the full moon ended and the first light of dawn appeared, there was no movement.

The white python coiled up all around, watching.

Only when the first rays of the rising sun pierced through the yellow poisonous barrier of the swamp and fell upon Li Yi's tightly closed eyes did he slowly open them.

A rare hint of confusion appeared in its brownish-yellow pupils.

What just happened?

This thought popped into Li Yi's mind.

The next moment, Li Yi noticed the changes in his entire body.

The flesh and blood became more solid, the tendons and bones stronger and more powerful, the scales shone with a black sheen, and the range of perception expanded... everything was developing in a positive direction.

What happened last night was incredibly beneficial to Li Yi.

Moreover, Li Yi discovered that his body size had shrunk by about half a percent.

But its power has only grown stronger.

Under the bewildered gaze of the white python, Li Yi went out to forage for food; it was extremely hungry.

Logically speaking, breathing in and out moonlight is a kind of pure Dao, which some naturally extraordinary or highly intelligent beasts can use to nourish their bodies and continuously reduce their desire to eat.

Take the white python for example; its need for flesh and blood is decreasing, and it is becoming increasingly picky.

But Li Yi was different; all it could hear now was its own stomach rumbling.

Somewhere in the swamp.

Li Yi arrived here, opened his eyes from the black silt, and looked ahead.

This place is a vast expanse of poisonous flowers and plants, colorful and vibrant, glistening like blood.

It mainly uses three colors: red, purple, and pink.

When Li Yi first passed by this place, he simply skipped over it.

This place is clearly a highly poisonous area. All these plants are poisonous, and extremely so. The black-scaled crocodile's instincts told it not to go there.

Black-scaled crocodiles also develop toxins, but these are all corrosive toxins of a single type, used to dissolve their prey and cause it excruciating pain.

The poisonous flowers and plants here are obviously of little use.

Li Yi had indeed thought that way in the past, but things were different now. It had swallowed some poisonous creatures before, which had caused a certain change in the toxins it possessed.

Now, Li Yi wants to try out the poisonous flowers and plants ahead.

Maybe these things are actually a great tonic for me.

Carefully approaching this place, Li Yi slowly opened his mouth, carefully choosing for a long time before leaning out and swallowing a pinkish-green tender grass.

Not long after, Li Yi felt strange patches of color appear before his eyes and many odd little people dancing and wandering around aimlessly.

Knowing something was wrong, it was prepared and sank directly into the mud.

The illusions grew more and more intense, and the dark mud around Li Yi suddenly appeared to shine brightly and vividly.

In the mud, Li Yi shook his head from time to time, blinking his eyes, feeling a dizziness he had never experienced before.

Not long after, everything went black.

When Li Yi woke up again, it was already many days later.

It had a good sleep, and all the previous discomfort had completely disappeared.

A warm current was flowing in my abdomen.

Li Yi realized that the herb he had swallowed was probably of extraordinary quality. Although it was highly poisonous, as long as he didn't die, it would be equivalent to a very strong tonic.

After stretching his body, Li Yi felt less hungry.

Soon, Li Yi emerged from the mud and slowly returned to his lair.

It remembered this place and will come back often in the future.

Around the nest, Li Yi encountered a white python searching for him.

The white python silently slithered in front of Li Yi, sizing him up and occasionally flicking its tongue.

It thought Li Yi had gone outside and died.

Snapped!

The white, delicate tail lashed at Li Yi with a light but firm touch, causing it to tremble slightly.

The next moment, a thin layer of frost formed on Li Yi's body.

A feeling I had never experienced before arose.

This swamp has only one climate: warm and humid. But now, Li Yi is experiencing something he has never felt before.

Click, click.

Li Yi's powerful body trembled slightly, and the frost fragments shattered, scattering all over the ground with a clatter, crystal clear.

It stared into the white python's icy blue vertical pupils, knowing that its bloodline had already begun to manifest.

Over the next few days, Li Yi continued to refine his understanding, becoming increasingly proficient at using that strange posture to absorb and exhale moonlight.

The white python, through constant imitation, actually acquired a trace of that spirit, which truly surprised Li Yi.

Six months have passed in the blink of an eye.

The white python has molted three times, growing faster and faster. It is now at the seventh level of the Qi Refining stage, with a slender body that is nearly four zhang long.

Li Yi, however, has been shrinking smaller and smaller, now reduced to about 70% of his original size. Compared to the white python, he looks like a swamp dog.

During the day, the white python coils up inside the cave, surrounded by pure water that seems to have a life of its own, vivid and lifelike.

Moreover, at some point, the white python was able to breathe fire. The first time was when it burped, and a fireball shot out of its mouth, startling Li Yi.

When night falls, it is the time to breathe in and exhale the moonlight.

Water phase, fire phase, lunar phase—the white python continuously inhaled and exhaled the three kinds of spiritual energy of heaven and earth, almost no longer needing food, and its strength increased rapidly.

Li Yi also benefited, eating the white python's remains without any guilt, and growing his fifth black scale.

A rare hint of shyness appeared in the white python's eyes, but Li Yi completely ignored it.

Only when Li Yi's strength reached the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage did he truly embark on the cultivation path of the Black Scale Crocodile clan, becoming able to inhale and exhale the turbid swamp qi.

Swamp energy contains the three forces of earth, water, and poison. It is a type of turbid energy, and its main function is to strengthen the body.

This is the true path that the Black Scale Crocodile has taken after being fortunate enough to embark on the path of immortality.

As for why Li Yi's size decreased instead of increased, it believed that this was related to the mysterious and primal form it had comprehended from the dragon's shadow.

That posture of absorbing and exhaling moonlight can also be used to absorb and exhale the energy of the swamp, achieving twice the result with half the effort, and truly changing Li Yi.

The Qi Refining stage is a process of absorbing and releasing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and Li Yi has already gained many unique insights into this.