From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

At this moment, the clear and turbid energies within Li Yi's body were completely in chaos.

The moonlight, representing pure energy, hangs high in the sky, emitting a soft white light, but now it is riddled with holes, washed away by the gushing out turbid air.

Among the four phases of turbid energy, the earth, wood, and water phases were relatively stable, but the fire phase, which Li Yi had just successfully comprehended on the brink of death, was extremely violent, bursting forth with a towering pillar of fire that disrupted everything and broke the balance.

Seeing the hard-won opportunity to establish his foundation vanish rapidly, Li Yi tried his best, but was still helpless and could only watch as everything spiraled out of balance.

It was prepared too hastily; the phosphorescent disaster came too quickly and abruptly.

If there is more time to absorb the moonlight, gradually strengthen the pure energy within the body, and achieve complete balance, there might still be a chance to stabilize the situation.

But now, once the imbalance occurs, everything is rapidly collapsing.

The balance of pure and turbid energy gradually reversed, and the microcosm within Li Yi's body began to twist and collapse. Once this opposing yet unified force became unbalanced, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Click!

Outside, cracks were visibly appearing on Li Yi's massive body covered in black scales, revealing newly formed flesh and bones mixed with the power of the three phases of the swamp.

Fresh, vibrant blood dripped onto Mu'e and the toad.

The toad panicked completely. "Little black-scaled crocodile, what... what's going on? Hang in there!"

It stared in horror as the phosphorescent shield around it teetered on the brink of collapse, the all-consuming phosphorescent calamity about to engulf it, yet it was powerless to do anything about it.

Li Yi's current situation is too strange to its perception. Even though it is in the Foundation Establishment stage, it cannot describe this sudden change, let alone know how to solve it.

A series of sharp pains shot through Li Yi's body. Moments later, the phosphorescent flames that had ignited on his body rapidly expanded, unleashing a terrifying and uncontrollable pressure of magical power.

Li Yi now seems to have instantly become an unstable bomb, ready to explode at any moment.

Once that powerful magical energy, which lies between the Foundation Establishment stage and the ninth level of Qi Refining, explodes, it will inevitably ignite the surrounding phosphorescent fire, destroying everything.

At this point, Li Yi had no choice but to use his backup plan and completely crush the core of the Demon Ancient Tree in his mouth.

Instantly, a massive killing intent accompanied by a surge of vitality rushed into his body, and Li Yi's cracked body stopped deteriorating and instead showed signs of healing.

Li Yi is now single-minded and has no other choice but to focus all his efforts on breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Failure means death.

boom!

A quarter of an hour later, a burst of intense phosphorescent fire exploded around Li Yi, splattering blood everywhere. His newly reconstructed body exploded, revealing shattered scales, bones, and flesh.

It still couldn't leverage this immense vitality to forcibly establish a foundation; the imbalance between purity and turbidity signified failure.

The phosphorescence ignited the charred stump of the large willow tree in mid-air, causing it to burn fiercely.

As their last foothold was about to crumble, green winds and colorful mists surged from Mu'e and the toad, lifting up the white python and the yellow crocodile.

The next moment, the last isolated island completely disintegrated, and the burning tree stumps and charred clods of earth fell into the pale white fire.

A cold light suddenly appeared. Mu'e squinted and reached out. It turned out to be a white moonstone.

Unlike phosphorescent fire, which is extremely destructive, it emits a warm and bright white light, faintly pushing away the surrounding phosphorescent fire.

Mu'e glanced at the now-vanished willow tree and only then did he understand.

Why does the Great Willow Tree always exude a lingering chill? Why did all the other spirit trees wither and die when the phosphorescent fire calamity raged underground, but the Great Willow Tree still survived?

It turns out that when it was growing, it had already wrapped this natural moonstone inside its heartwood, and now it has finally seen the light of day again.

"It seems we have hope."

Mu'e held the moonstone, feeling the spiritual pressure and pure moonlight within it, and looked up at Li Yi.

From the chaotic changes of clarity and turbidity within Li Yi's body, Mu'e sensed something. Coupled with her understanding of Li Yi, as a rare black-scaled crocodile with the ability to absorb and exhale moonlight, this creature would undoubtedly be a great help.

"go!"

Mu'e raised his hand and the moonstone flew out, embedding itself directly into a terrifying rift in Li Yi's abdomen.

Li Yi, whose consciousness was already blurred, was suddenly awakened by a cold force. His blurred consciousness was as if it had been doused with a bucket of cold water, and he became clear-headed.

The moonlight within the moonstone was quickly devoured by its body, giving the previously chaotic world of clear and turbid things a sliver of hope once again.

A pure, clear moonlight flowed into it.

"The four phases fall, and the pure and impure are balanced!"

Li Yi's consciousness roared, and the moonlight shone high in the sky, suddenly becoming incredibly bright, suppressing the pale white phosphorescent flames.

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Li Yi exerted all his strength, using his last bit of power to maintain the balance of the four phases of the turbid energy.

Green wind, yellow mist, and black poison—three forces belonging to the swamp—are surging and sinking together.

Moments later, the fire element lost its support and its momentum waned, causing it to fall as well.

The clear and turbid energies showed signs of separation once again.

"It's getting better, phew...that scared me to death."

The toad sensed that the power fluctuations within Li Yi's body were gradually calming down, and the phosphorescent flames burning around him were also stabilizing. The protective shield healed, and the toad breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Yi's body streaked through the air like a shooting star, its consciousness completely immersed in this world of purity and turbidity.

It now realizes just how difficult the path it has chosen has been.

If it were given another chance, having seen through everything, it would probably wait at least thirty years before attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Unfortunately, there's no turning back.

With the blessing of the moonlight, Li Yi's inner world had a chance to regain balance.

But what follows is the transformation of pure and turbid energies into the foundation of immortality. This stage is even more difficult, but one cannot give up halfway and must continue.

Outside, Mu'e and the toad both breathed a sigh of relief. The white python woke up groggily, still suffering from a splitting headache. The explosion of the purple fragments had backfired on its soul, and it had not yet recovered.

It looked around, and there was still a phosphorescent shield outside, keeping out the omnipresent phosphorescent calamity.

They didn't know how far they had traveled through the air, constantly fleeing, but they could never escape the area shrouded in phosphorescent light.

The faces of the toad and the wood e were illuminated by the pale white light, and both of them had solemn expressions.

Is there any peace left in this swamp?

"We're moving very slowly. Right now, the little black-scaled crocodile is in control of everything. This phosphorescent shield is like a bubble drifting in the ocean; we're just being carried along by the waves."

"It's a toad," the toad said gravely.

It had already sensed Li Yi's current state; it was focused entirely on foundation building and could no longer concentrate on controlling anything.

If this continues, they may never be able to escape.