From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

It's another full moon night.

The moonlight, like water, spilled onto the dark swamp. Even though it appeared slightly yellowish amidst the thick poisonous haze, it was still incredibly bright and enchanting.

Li Yi continued to breathe in and out moonlight in a strange posture, and would occasionally adjust his movements slightly.

In his mind, the scenes of Long Ying undergoing tribulation flashed clearly, their colors not fading or becoming blurred with the passage of time.

As he inhaled and exhaled the moonlight, an idea came to Li Yi's mind.

I wonder how that crater is doing?

More than half a year ago, Li Yi left there in a hurry, and at the last moment he only saw a thick purple fog enveloping him.

Did that dragon successfully transcend its tribulation?

It seems we have failed.

The flying debris was living proof.

As he inhaled and exhaled the moonlight, Li Yi's mind was unexpectedly clear. It seemed that even the bloodthirsty thoughts brought about by his instinct to devour and hunt had disappeared and were temporarily suppressed.

At this moment, Li Yi felt more like a person again.

Or rather, an outlier.

Unbeknownst to them, the full moon was obscured by dark clouds. After an unknown amount of time, the white python swam close to the mud, its white scales spotless.

Its progress is remarkable, the benefits brought by the moonlight are immense, and its vertical pupils constantly reveal a wealth of emotions.

There is contemplation about the universe and all things, the joy of eating delicious food, and the satisfaction brought by cultivation.

Li Yi just watched, unable to express himself.

After returning to his lair and hunting once, Li Yi would usually enter a deep sleep for several days, and then repeat this process over and over again.

The white python is completely different; its lifestyle is becoming less and less like that of a pure snake and more like that of a spiritual practitioner.

Moreover, it seems to be afraid of something, rarely leaving its nest itself, and even intends to continue digging the nest downwards.

Late at night, Li Yi closed his eyes and fell asleep.

boom!

A faint explosion rang out, and the white python suddenly spat out a fireball the size of its head. Just as it was about to crash into the inner wall of the nest, its vertical pupils dilated considerably.

At the last moment, the fireball abruptly changed direction, flew out of the nest, and exploded in the mud with a dull thud.

At the same time, it extended its long tail, and a thin curtain of water appeared, enveloping Li Yi and shielding him from the outside world.

After a while, seeing that Li Yi did not make any move, the white python sighed in a human-like manner, coiled up, and slowly closed its eyes.

……

Li Yi began hunting again, patrolling the territory and devouring some creatures before turning around and returning to the vicinity of the red-leaf banyan tree.

This place has become a regular source of food for it.

After waiting for a long time, Li Yi quietly followed a group that was going to collect fruit and swallowed the strongest monkey on the way.

Li Yi was about to leave when a toad caught his attention.

It sat perched on a rock in the marshland, persistently croaking.

The cry immediately enraged the monkey troop, who had once again lost a companion. They bared their teeth and tried to throw stones.

However, the farthest stone thrown only landed in front of the toad, which remained motionless, a truly mocking sight.

Li Yi immediately recognized the distinctive toad and just stared at it.

At one end of its vast field of vision, a shadow hopped out from somewhere in the swamp.

The red-faced monkey king had disappeared, his mouth tightly shut, holding the short spear in one hand and a piece of yellow crystal in the other, emanating a surge of spiritual energy.

In an instant, Li Yi's eyes were fixed on the crystal, and he showed no intention of leaving.

This thing possesses a spirit!

Where did it come from?

The Monkey King saw the toad and suddenly stopped. The tip of the short spear in his hand gleamed with an orange-yellow light, emitting a faint golden glow.

The next moment, it threw the short spear.

The short spear, shrouded in spiritual light, silently pierced through the air, instantly pinning the toad to the swamp, leaving only one hind leg twitching.

"Oh, oh... oh!!!"

The monkeys hiding under the banyan tree immediately let out joyful cries, glaring fiercely at the toad and waving their arms and legs excitedly.

The monkey king cautiously observed his surroundings, walked over, picked up the short spear, carried the toad's corpse, and returned to the banyan tree.

At that moment, Li Yi was right behind it, and could swallow it whole with a single gulp.

But it didn't want to do that yet; it just stared at the cluster of yellow crystals in the Monkey King's hand.

This monkey king's aura had reached the second level of the Qi Refining stage at some point, and its cultivation speed was also unusually fast, relying solely on instinct.

Of course, this could also be related to what it has in its hands.

Under the red banyan tree, several monkeys picked up the dead toads, threw them from the tree to the ground, and repeated this process over and over again.

Many other monkeys watched from the sidelines, making noises, raising their arms high, and some even kicking the toad's carcass around.

The Monkey King was at the highest point of the tree canopy, revealing half of his face in Li Yi's view, staring at this scene, seemingly lost in thought.

At dusk.

As the sun sets in the west, its orange rays pierce through the yellow poisonous barrier, creating a strange and beautiful sight from a certain angle.

"oh!"

The Monkey King let out a long roar, emerged from the treetops, squatted on a thick branch, and held up the yellow crystal with both hands, allowing the radiant light to shine through the crystal and become pure.

It makes a primal motion, using this motion and the aid of crystals to breathe in and out the glow of the sun.

Behind it, several monkeys, large and small, with very intelligent eyes, were imitating its movements, but they were all there in form but not in spirit.

The glow of sunset, like that of sunrise, is extremely fleeting, leaving little time to waste.

The monkeys stared at the citrine, many of their eyes blinking from the glare, unable to grasp anything.

Fortunately, one of the smaller ones actually learned something from the monkey king and absorbed a sliver of the rosy light.

It wasn't until nightfall that it jumped up excitedly.

The monkey king was the same, but soon, an instinctive ferocity appeared in its eyes. These two emotions swayed back and forth, devouring each other.

An overly powerful member might threaten its position as the monkey king; this is a natural instinct in living beings.

But cultivation, absorbing and exhaling radiant light, is another, higher-level instinct.

Click!

A crisp sound came from the yellow crystal in the Monkey King's hand. The Monkey King looked at it closely, then reached out and peeled it off.

A large piece of crystal, now gray, fell from the tree and was picked up by a monkey playing under the tree, but it cut its finger in the process.

Li Yi had been watching this scene the whole time.

It was only when it realized that the magical object in the monkey king's hand would be gradually consumed that it turned and left with peace of mind.

It will soon find the source of the citrine.