From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

A gentle breeze swept by, causing the ubiquitous pale yellow poisonous haze in the swamp to sway in the air like a light veil, creating faint ripples.

A red-faced monkey with its mouth tightly shut twitched its nose, looked around at the silent swamp, and suddenly reached its hand into the fur on its chest.

In a moment, it pulled a red leaf from its fur with its paw and threw it into its mouth.

At the same time, it spat out a damp, yellowed banyan leaf, which fell with a thud onto the swampy mud.

Just as the monkey was about to catch up with the group, a bright red dot suddenly floated out from its chest and wobbled as it landed on the swamp.

The monkey paused for a moment, then quickly turned its head to look at the departing group. Its brows furrowed, but it still jumped over to pick up the red leaf it had accidentally lost.

Just as its monkey paw was about to touch the red leaf, the mud beneath it suddenly caved in violently, and then a dark shadow flashed by.

Snap, snap...

Li Yi was half above the mud, wagging its tail, and was chewing up the monkey's bones. One of its paws was still hanging outside, clutching a red leaf.

The monkey troop found an excellent safe route, and although it seemed terrifying along the way, they didn't encounter any fatal dangers.

Li Yi planned to put some pressure on them so that they would walk faster.

"Oh?"

A startled cry rang out from the throat, muffled and strange, coming from the back of the line and quickly reaching the front.

The Monkey King turned his head with a gloomy face, looked at the area behind him that was faintly visible in the yellow poisonous barrier, and walked over with his mouth tightly shut.

One member disappeared from the end of its line.

This caused some of the monkeys to tense up, their darting eyes scanning the surroundings, but everything remained deathly silent.

The Monkey King only saw a trace, a few almost imperceptible hairs, and immediately abandoned the member, using body language to urge the team to speed up.

We can't stay here for long.

Li Yi's senses were far superior to those of the monkeys. He followed the monkey troop from the side, carefully sensing the area around the route from time to time to see if there were any potential threats.

About half an hour later, the monkey king at the front of the troop stopped and stared wide-eyed at the tree shadows shrouded in a yellow mist, his eyes filled with fear.

It suddenly bent down, waving one hand swiftly and powerfully, warning its companions to stay hidden.

Things seem to have taken an unexpected turn.

Li Yi noticed this and was even more intimidated by the faint, strange, bloody aura and inspiration ahead, so he quickly hid deep in the mud.

Its senses are much stronger, and it can clearly sense the shadows of trees not far ahead.

It was a demonic tree with blackened branches and leaves like knives with serrated edges. Its branches stretched out in all directions in a disorderly manner, like a hideous shadow gradually approaching.

What's even more terrifying is that it can actually move. Li Yi could clearly see that the roots of this demonic tree were slowly twisting in the mud like tentacles, propelling the entire tree forward slowly through the swamp.

Its aura was immense, likely the limit of the Qi Refining stage. Li Yi had no doubt that once the monkey troop was discovered, not a single one would escape.

At this moment, the Monkey King's eyes widened, and he ordered all his companions to lower their bodies and hide around him.

It clearly knew that at this moment, dodging was more useful than running away, because the opponent was indeed extremely powerful.

Unfortunately, the shadows seemed to be coming from this direction, and the hideous, dark shadows became clearer and clearer as they emerged from the yellow poisonous barrier.

Li Yi, already aware of the situation within the mud, began to evade its opponent. It gradually realized that the demonic tree seemed to be slow to react to activity beneath the mud.

On the contrary, it is extremely sensitive to any movement on the surface of the silt.

A monkey, simply because it was nervous and lost its balance, suddenly stepped into the mud and was struck by a green shadow, flying backward a distance of ten feet.

In Li Yi's perception, a blade-shaped, dark green leaf was embedded in its chest, with drops of blood rolling down.

The next moment, the strange tree seemed to smell the delicious scent of blood, and its movement speed suddenly increased. A jet-black branch shot out, tearing through the air like a vine!

In that instant, the remaining monkeys were extremely tense. The monkey king gripped the wooden spear tightly in his hand, and his legs trembled.

The monkey that had been hit suddenly let out a loud cry, its eyes flashing with a sharp light. It leaped up and narrowly escaped the attack.

Then, it glanced back at the panicked and hiding monkey troop, and ran off in another direction without looking back, its figure disappearing into the thick fog.

It felt its steps were unexpectedly light, and the mud beneath its feet solidified the moment it stepped on it, as if it were supporting it.

This caused it to accelerate several times, and it darted away as if walking on flat ground.

The demon tree's branches, which had been motionless, suddenly began to writhe and twist wildly, and its roots writhed violently beneath the mud, but they were still no match for the fleeing monkey.

However, the injured monkey didn't run far before the last glimmer of light in its eyes died down, and it collapsed headfirst into the mud.

laugh!

A tree trunk that suddenly became soft pierced through it and lifted it high. The monkey carcass shriveled up in a few breaths, its blood completely drained.

Not far from the demon tree, Li Yi silently followed the fleeing monkey troop, glancing back at the demon tree one last time.

These monkeys cannot die, at least not before they tell themselves the origin of the citrine.

This is also why it secretly offered its assistance.

But... that bloodthirsty demon tree won't wander into my territory, will it?

Despite a flurry of thoughts running through his mind, Li Yi remained close to the monkey troop.

The Monkey King's face was solemn, his face twitched from time to time, and his steps were somewhat out of control, sometimes stepping into knee-deep mud and then quickly pulling himself out.

In the swamp, there is no absolutely safe place for them.

This time it was just bad luck.

However, the red-faced monkeys' group traveled smoothly from then on and encountered no further danger.

Li Yi's vision became even sharper. Emerging from the mud, he could almost see another towering tree appearing ahead.

It clearly sensed a clear and bright inspiration.

There was no eerie, bloodthirsty aura, only the ancient and weathered presence of the spirit tree, and a faintly fragrant spiritual energy.

The closer Li Yi got to the towering tree shadows, the more he could feel the poisonous barrier around him disappearing and the air becoming fresher.

Before long, the monkey king, who was walking at the front of the group, widened his eyes, couldn't help but wave his hands, and stretched an ugly smile onto his face.

The monkeys behind it quickened their pace, but none of them dared to open their mouths, their faces showing joy.

They'll be safe soon!