From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

The first rays of dawn pierced through the year-round poisonous barrier, bringing a sliver of life back to the lifeless swamp.

Here appeared a mud pit that had mostly healed, with wisps of scorching heat still lingering around it, carrying a violent spiritual aura.

After a long while, a staggering figure came from one direction and quickly approached the place.

This is a brown fox.

Its fur turned black and mottled, making it extremely ugly. In some places, flesh was exposed, and a dried-up blood hole appeared on its hind leg, surrounded by scabs and blackened. The entire base of its right leg also shrank, making it look exceptionally terrifying.

The fox's eyes gleamed with a cold, sinister light as it walked on three legs, warily scanning its surroundings.

As it reached this slope, its pace slowed, and it twitched its nose, sniffing the surrounding air.

Not long after, it swayed slightly, looking quite badly injured, but still retaining that beastly ferocity.

The closer a beast is to death, the more dangerous it is with that look in its eyes.

The fox had a very clear purpose. After wandering around for a while, it staggered toward the hidden cave.

This is its destination.

Its slender three legs trod through the mud, nimbly leaving a series of light imprints. The fox shook its head, its pace slowing down, as if sensing an invisible, chilling aura permeating the area.

Beasts that embark on the path of cultivation generally have great faith in their intuition, and there's nothing wrong with that.

The fox walked slower and slower, and a glint of light gradually appeared in its slightly dim eyes.

Right in the center of its field of vision, beneath a grassy slope, lies a cave.

It and its companions had traversed a long distance across the swamp to reach this place, thinking it was a peaceful territory. However, upon discovering the aura of some kind of spirit here, it was naturally overjoyed.

Let those self-proclaimed orthodox Flamebreath Fox clans fight and kill each other.

They only want to break free from the control of their master and have freedom and an unlimited future.

Unexpectedly, a demonic tree suddenly emerged from the darkness, incredibly ferocious. It turned out to be a remnant of a race from thousands of years ago, which had somehow revived!

In the history of the Flamebreath Fox Clan, this remnant race was extremely terrifying, leaving rivers of blood wherever they went, unless protected by spirited trees.

Why have they revived?

The swampy lands are on the eve of a great upheaval, with countless storms brewing. The Flamebreath Fox Clan is in a precarious situation.

boom!

In the brief moment when the fox was momentarily distracted, in that almost imperceptible instant, a muffled humming sound in the air rang in its ears.

It felt its surroundings twist and turn, its feet sinking rapidly, and then a gaping maw filled its entire field of vision.

That gust of foul wind carried the scent of a ferocious beast, almost reminding the fox of the scene where it was slaughtered to pieces by the demon tree.

This time, however, it was more covert and more deadly.

However, it reacted quickly. After all, it was a seasoned Flame Breath Fox Clan member, at the eighth level of Qi Refining. Despite being severely injured, it still had the power to deliver its strongest attack!

Suddenly, the fox's three legs arched and sprang forward, purple flames flashing beneath its feet as if it were treading on fire. Its figure blurred for a moment, then it moved horizontally upwards a short distance.

But that gaping maw followed like a shadow, emanating a terrifying aura, as if it had been foreseen all along, its pitch blackness resembling an abyss opening!

At this final moment, the fox knew it was doomed. Its chest swelled, and wisps of flame burned rapidly beneath its fur.

It opened its mouth, but instead of letting out a sharp whistle, a pure purple flame surged out.

laugh!

This pure purple flame moved with incredible speed, drawing a shallow arc in mid-air before piercing the back of the massive black shadow.

At the same time, the fox had most of its body bitten off, leaving only its head and half a shoulder, and it fell diagonally down.

It did its best, but it only managed to avoid it by a tiny bit.

The fox's head stared wide-eyed, and no blood gushed from its shattered body; it had already been completely burned away by the purple flames in that instant.

It just watched as, in its blurry vision, the huge black shadow fell back into the swamp with a thud and suddenly began to roll violently.

It turned out to be a black-scaled crocodile.

Lowly bloodline...

The fox's eyes froze, the edges becoming cloudy, completely losing their last glimmer of light. The next moment, a burst of purple flames consumed its remaining body, leaving nothing behind.

Li Yi felt a continuous, intense burning pain erupt from a certain part of his back, near his right forelimb, as if a stream of molten lava had been poured into it.

Some of the black scales were instantly melted, turning into specks of inky ash. The flesh was burned through, but it narrowly avoided reaching the bones.

But the intense pain still drove Li Yi almost mad, causing him to roll violently in the swamp, creating waves of mud.

Something has remained inside my body!

After some time, Li Yi broke through the cave in a disheveled state and rushed into the location of the spiritual spring, waving his limbs and immersing half of his body in the spring.

hiss!

A white mist carrying the smell of sulfur burst forth from the wound, and much of the azure spiritual water was instantly evaporated, creating a hazy mist.

It wasn't until some time later that Li Yi's mind was able to overcome the gradually weakening torment of pain.

What is that?

Li Yi recalled that before the brown fox died, it spat out... a pure purple stream of light.

it hurts……

As night fell, Li Yi left the spring with half his body still attached. As he moved forward, he felt the still excruciating pain in his wound, which had weakened considerably. The look in his eyes involuntarily became much more ferocious.

Under the moonlight, Li Yi burrowed into the mud and slowly made his way towards the big willow tree.

The fox may or may not have had any companions alive, but it didn't care.

The injuries on my body must be treated as soon as possible; this burning pain... is truly a great torment.

If it were an ordinary, enlightened beast, it would probably go mad in no time. But Li Yi still had a human soul, and his reason allowed him to find a solution instead of falling into endless madness.

The moonlight shone on the big willow tree.

The white python coiled under the tree, its head raised towards the waning moon, inhaling and exhaling the moonlight. Strands of water-like luster flowed over its body, making it extremely beautiful.

Before long, it finished its cultivation session, its gaze sweeping across the darkness surrounding the large willow tree, wary of any demonic tree or other creature that might appear.

It flicked its tongue, lazily guarding the big willow tree, pondering its next move.

The citrine is almost used up. It's not like those red-faced monkeys; it has a noble bloodline and can absorb the sunset glow faster than the entire monkey troop.

Just then, the white python suddenly saw Li Yi, whose back was covered in black scales, and turned its head to look at him.