From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

After taking the blow, Li Yi exerted force with his limbs and suddenly burst out with tremendous speed. His heavy body turned into a black shadow, dodging the demon tree's next few lashes and retaliating with several black poison bullets.

boom!

The demon tree's branches danced wildly, its leaves scattering in all directions, yet the poison bombs still exploded in front of it, leaving specks of deadly poison on the trunk and leaves.

The tree trunk was corroded with small marks, but the damage did not spread much; it seemed to remain only on the surface.

The blade-like leaves that were splashed with venom quickly changed color and fell off.

The demonic tree seemed to sense the pain and became even more frenzied, continuing its attacks with a madness, but it never approached the great willow tree in its true form, only attacking with its branches and leaves.

But Li Yi had already tested the waters enough, and with a turn of his head, he disappeared into the tree hole without a trace.

Chi Chi!

Behind him, dark green blades shot in, but they couldn't penetrate the depths of the winding cave, and even when they hit Li Yi's back, they couldn't break through his defenses.

Not long after, the demonic tree danced wildly for a while before leaving again.

Inside the cave.

The white python's nimble tail slithered across Li Yi's back, releasing a stream of clear, life-giving water from its tip, soothing his shattered scales and wounds.

Li Yi calmly closed his eyes, trying to soothe the pain in his body.

The only thing that could harm the demon tree was this incredibly powerful lash of its branch, which could even penetrate its scales and injure its interior.

Fortunately, Li Yi's body was strong enough; the damage was only to his flesh and blood, not a serious injury, and he could recover.

With his eyes closed, Li Yi pondered the current situation.

This trouble has indeed stopped here, and it has also set its sights on the white python and himself. However, this demonic tree seems unable to get close to the big willow tree, so it can only watch from the outside.

If its body were close to the cave in the big willow tree, it could probably stretch out a branch and dig itself and the white python out of the cave.

But it didn't do that.

This could be one of the demon tree's weaknesses.

In addition, its leaves are strong enough, but they can't penetrate the scales on its back and head. It's hard to say what would happen if it were on its abdomen.

Li Yi didn't want to risk testing this point.

Currently, it only knows that this moving demon tree is difficult to fight and has blocked itself and the white python, but it cannot invade the interior of the big willow tree.

I'll have to hide for a while.

Better safe than sorry.

As night fell, Li Yi and the white python remained coiled deep within the willow tree's hollow, oblivious to the moonlight. They didn't venture out even during the day, simply hiding there.

During this time, the white python poked its head out of the cave several times to look left and right. Sometimes it could see a huge shadow that was faintly visible in the poisonous barrier not far away, and sometimes it could not see anything at all.

But it's okay, it won't go out.

It wasn't until a month had passed.

Li Yi kept the brown crystal in his mouth day and night in the cave, continuing to strengthen the swampy turbidity within his body.

Although the balance within his body was increasingly tilting to one side, Li Yi could sense the limit.

It won't get out of control as long as no new spiritual energy is added.

The benefit was that by constantly absorbing the turbid air of the swamp, Li Yi's body began to grow larger again, his strength increased, and his injured scales healed quickly, leaving no trace.

The turbid air amplified Li Yi's animalistic instincts, sometimes making him feel hungry, but as a Black Scale Crocodile, a fearsome predator, Li Yi could completely tolerate it.

On this day, Li Yi stayed in the cave and roughly judged that about a month had passed, and it should be night now.

The brown crystal had been used up ten days ago. Like the citrine, this type of spiritual item is gradually consumed as it absorbs and exhales spiritual energy.

It's time to go out and see the world.

Li Yi had already been harboring this idea in his mind for some time.

The demonic tree was bloodthirsty, insane, and driven almost entirely by instinct. Li Yi didn't believe it had the same patience as him, so he just waited around the big willow tree.

So, it used its limbs to lift its body slightly off the ground and went out through the tree hole.

The white python suddenly awoke, its head emerging from its coiled body, its tongue flicking, its vertical pupils looking at Li Yi with concern, before following behind.

A round, bright full moon hung in the dark sky. Although it looked a little yellowish in the swamp, it was clear and beautiful enough.

Moonlight spilled into the entrance of the Great Willow Tree Cave, from which a long snout covered in black scales slowly emerged, followed by a pair of indifferent brown-yellow eyes that scanned the surroundings.

Using both sight and perception, Li Yi peeked out and scanned the surroundings, but found nothing unusual.

Moonlight shone on him, making his black scales gleam. Li Yi instinctively felt the cool moonlight, which stirred his urge to breathe.

With unhurried steps, Li Yi emerged from the large willow tree, strolled around it a few times, and then disappeared into the mud not far away.

There seemed to be no movement at all.

The demonic tree is probably not nearby, otherwise it would have made its move long ago.

After a period of probing, Li Yi returned to the base of the large willow tree, while the white python climbed up the trunk of the tree into the air.

The crocodile and the snake were perfectly in sync, raising their heads at the same time and mimicking the moonlight, seemingly quickly becoming immersed in it, appearing completely unguarded.

An hour later, Li Yi remained in this position, then suddenly opened his eyes and looked around before he could finally relax completely.

The demon tree is really gone.

Soon, it truly entered a state of deep concentration, its divine senses and inspiration immersed in the moonlight as clear as water, greedily absorbing it.

The night passed quickly and smoothly.

Besides the white python, it was once again troubled by the sudden scene that appeared when it was consuming moonlight. It was interrupted for a moment, and its body suddenly trembled.

Then, after the full moon, inside the cave, the white python shared another scene with Li Yi.

It was the same abandoned nest as before, but this time the view was much blurrier. All that could be seen was a vague, huge insect-like figure twitching its asymmetrical body and limbs, writhing in disgust, covered in a white, filthy substance that clung tightly to its body.

It emerged from the depths of the swamp where the yellow wax stone was, wriggling within its nest...

Li Yi's pupils dilated, and he returned to reality.

It didn't know why so much trouble had recently arisen. The strange, bloodthirsty demon tree and the unknown thing beneath its original lair all seemed to have erupted within its territory.

Fortunately, he and the white python had moved away from their original lair beforehand, otherwise they might have been in danger.

Judging from the aura revealed in that blurry image, the strange insect may be not far from the demon tree, both being some kind of extremely ferocious and terrifying thing, unlike those naturally formed in the swamp.

Fortunately, Li Yi did not intend to leave the area around the big willow tree.

It won't stray a step until it breaks through to the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage.