From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

Li Yi pondered for a moment and decided to wait and not rashly attack the group of red-faced monkeys before acting alone.

The baboons under the cedar trees also seemed to value the presence of citrine, which is why they shared their tools with the red-faced monkeys to dig for it.

They don't really value brown quartz; they just use it as a tool, and it doesn't seem to have any use for them.

Actually, you can understand it with a little thought.

The baboons are quite intelligent, and their cultivation level is probably even higher, so they naturally wouldn't let the red-faced monkeys dig up the crystals near their territory for nothing.

They were not afraid at all that the red-faced monkeys would run away with the crystal.

Because when the red-faced monkey reached the location of the cedar tree, it had just reached the limit of its ability to move; any further and it would die in the swamp.

The prerequisite for them to continue growing outward is the emerald green needles of the cedar tree, which have the same function as the red leaves, protecting them from the poisonous swamp.

With nowhere else to go, the pine needles probably provided just enough space for them to travel back and forth between the mine and the cedar trees, keeping them from having any other ideas.

Compared to the unknown beyond the swamp, it's better to stay safe.

Faint clanging sounds could be heard coming from inside the mine; it was the red-faced monkeys diligently digging for ore.

After roughly estimating the size of the vein in his mind, Li Yi waited outside, his eyes occasionally surfacing from the mud to look around.

Unbeknownst to him, Li Yi began to have some doubts.

Logically speaking, gold crystal veins should be formed in thick, solidified earth veins, absorbing the energy of the earth veins to take shape.

In the swamp, the earth veins have a special aura, floating and not solidified, and are all silt. Why would there be an exposed mineral vein?

This seems a bit strange.

Li Yi was somewhat puzzled, and the idea of ​​exploring deeper into the silt suddenly arose in his mind, but he quickly put it out of his mind.

Things should be done step by step; we can't rush it.

Much later.

A lifelike monkey head emerged from the mine. A red-faced monkey cautiously looked around, chewing on a needle-like leaf, and struggling to drag something out.

Its full form was soon revealed, followed closely by another strong, red-faced monkey, the two monkeys carrying a large piece of yellow crystal together.

Once they reached the open area of ​​the mine, the monkeys placed the mined ore on the solid ground around the exposed vein so that it wouldn't sink into the swamp.

With the monkeys' hard work, a total of five huge citrine crystals were mined and carried outside.

The red-faced monkey king let out a low growl, his body glowing with an orange-yellow light, his arm muscles bulging, as he carried the largest piece of yellow crystal out of the mine by himself.

boom!

The citrine was placed on the ground as carefully as possible, but it still shattered into a pile of fragments.

It was panting heavily, and Li Yi was watching from a short distance away, staring at a certain spot on the surface of the cluster of yellow crystals where a brown crystal was inlaid.

It turned out to be the case.

Brown quartz is likely a byproduct of citrine veins. Citrine is believed to have the ability to gather the glow of sunset, which could greatly increase the efficiency with which animals absorb and exhale the glow.

And what about brown crystal? It is a mixed spiritual object born from the essence of the swamp itself.

After unearthing five large pieces of yellow crystal, the Monkey King took out his pickaxe and gently chiseled along the edge of the brown crystal with its sharp end.

With its careful movements, before long, a piece of accompanying, hard brown crystal broke off and fell to the ground with a clatter.

Li Yi's brownish-yellow eyes followed its movement.

Five large pieces of citrine and three pieces of accompanying brown quartz—this was all the harvest the red-faced monkeys had gathered after their long and busy work.

After finishing everything, the Monkey King felt relieved. He looked at the emerald green needle in his hand, then lay down on the ground to rest. Soon after, he began to snore.

Mining in the poisonous wilderness was indeed a tiring task; even the Monkey King felt exhausted and fell asleep.

Not far away, a fine trail quietly appeared in the black silt, slowly approaching this place.

That was the sight created by the scales on Li Yi's back moving downstream in the silt, completely unnoticed by the red-faced monkeys.

Snapped!

A bubble the size of a fist rose from the soft, flowing black sludge, quickly bursting on the surface and releasing a large, visible mass of yellow poisonous material.

The monkeys that had been keeping watch nearby quickly covered their mouths and noses and moved in another direction, not wanting to get any closer.

Behind it were the largest piece of citrine and a piece of brown crystal that had been cut and separated. Inside, a piece of brown crystal was visible to the naked eye, which the monkeys could not handle.

Two brownish-yellow eyes emerged silently from the mud.

Li Yi took in all the monkeys here and quickly seized an opportunity to slowly emerge from the mud, his body completely blocked by the yellow crystal.

It opened its mouth wide, pressed its teeth against the rough surface of the citrine, slowly biting and adapting, searching for a point of leverage.

Suddenly, the sound of rustling footsteps came from behind.

A monkey, just awakened and on alert, rubbed its eyes and sleepily approached the scene, seemingly having heard some noise.

A monkey's head suddenly emerged from one side of the citrine.

Behind it was a calm swampy mud, with nothing there.

It felt relieved and turned to the other side to keep watch, but after only a few steps, it became drowsy and stood still, nodding its head repeatedly.

Li Yi opened his eyes and emerged from the mud once more, silently opening his mouth to probe.

After a while, it felt itself having completely bitten the yellow crystal. With a slight exertion of its whole body, the heavy treasure that the Monkey King had been working so hard for lifted an inch off the ground.

Li Yi thought for a moment, then put the yellow crystal down again and, out of the monkeys' blind spot, dragged it little by little into the swamp mud, making it look like it had slid into the mud itself.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!"

The drowsy monkey heard the noise behind it this time, and suddenly woke up and turned around, only to see that the largest piece of yellow crystal had already slid more than half into the swampy mud.

It quickly let out a sharp cry to wake its companions and rushed over.

In just a few steps, the yellow crystal suddenly accelerated its descent and was swallowed by the swamp in the blink of an eye.

The monkey's paws froze in place.

All the monkeys were awakened. The Monkey King suddenly opened his eyes, leaped up, and immediately saw the last glimpse of the yellow crystal that Li Yi had dragged away.

It rushed over, pounding its chest and stamping its feet in fury.

But it can only watch.

If it wanted to enter the swamp to retrieve something, it wouldn't be strong enough and would sink in as well, let alone possess any magic.

In the Qi Refining stage, demonic beasts primarily focus on strengthening their physical bodies, unless they possess exceptionally strong bloodlines or intelligence; otherwise, they rely on brute force.

The Monkey King was quite intelligent and possessed a rudimentary ability to manipulate wooden spears, but it was useless; he could only sigh in despair in the face of this situation.