From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

Somewhere in the swamp, a cluster of low, ancient, dark green trees huddled together, taking root in the relatively firm ground, gradually gathering the surrounding loose soil into their roots, making the area even more solid.

The fist-sized, round, greenish-red fruits are growing vigorously, hanging heavily in the canopy of the ancient tree.

Li Yi appeared here, and a tuft of monkey hair slowly appeared in his sight. Then he concealed his aura and his speed decreased sharply.

Along the way, it found several fresh skeletons, mostly belonging to red-faced monkeys, scattered among the banyan trees and fruit trees.

Clearly, the demon tree hadn't left and had found new prey, causing trouble for the red-faced monkeys.

As his gaze gradually swept forward, Li Yi finally saw a very conspicuous, tall, dark brown ancient tree standing out among the dark green bushes.

Its branches are slightly twisted, giving it an overall eerie and terrifying feel. Its leaves are dark green and have an extremely rare blade shape.

This demonic tree actually took root here so brazenly, without moving, pretending to be one of the fruit trees as well.

Based on the nearby monkey skins, Li Yi thought that it might have just discovered an important food source for the monkeys, tasted the benefits, and that's why it stayed here.

However... this demonic tree is too obvious; the freshest monkeys that died nearby must have been several days old.

This demonic tree, though terrifying, is indeed not very intelligent.

Li Yi stared at it for a while, and the more he looked, the more troublesome it seemed. It actually stopped moving.

Suddenly, Li Yi wondered if the thing burning with purple flames inside his body could be taken out and used to deal with the demon tree.

It seems possible.

Li Yi thought for a moment, then slowly turned and left. His powerful, long tail, covered in black scales, swept lightly across the mud, propelling him out.

Some branches of the demon tree twitched slightly, turning in this direction, as if they had discovered something.

laugh!

The next moment, a blade shot out, precisely severing a large purple centipede that was lurking beneath the mud.

The giant centipede was about three feet long and was a poisonous insect that had attained enlightenment. Its aura was at the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage, but it was instantly cut in two, with each part of its body fleeing in a panic in a different direction.

Two slender branches softened and shot out from the trunk of the demon tree like arrows, piercing through the two halves of the giant centipede's body in an instant.

The giant centipede twisted its indistinguishable body, including its head, and bit into a branch of the demon tree, injecting venom, but to no avail.

In a short while, it was drained by the demon tree, becoming two lifelike empty shells that fell near the demon tree.

Li Yi arrived near the red-leaf banyan tree.

The monkey troop here suffered another devastating blow, this time even more terrifying than the elusive Li Yi – it was actually a moving tree!

This tree guards the monkeys' largest food source, causing them to lose a large portion of their food and slightly reduce their size.

Most of the monkeys had their heads down, were hungry, and had lost their usual energy.

Not long after Li Yi arrived, a commotion broke out among the monkeys under the tree. Several monkeys were fighting over the carcass of a baby monkey that had already starved to death, their eyes red and their teeth bared.

Several female monkeys started fighting with them, creating a chaotic scene.

Up in the tree, the monkey king and the few remaining monkeys with cultivation levels watched all this indifferently, helpless.

The Monkey King now has a scar that runs across his entire face, almost as if he was cut open.

It grew increasingly indifferent, its pupils occasionally trembling slightly, and a barely suppressed fear would surface in its eyes from time to time.

Li Yi looked for a short while before turning and leaving.

As long as the demon tree guards that spot, the monkey troop probably won't venture out easily anymore. They're probably terrified of being killed; even the monkey king almost had his skull cut off.

If I were to rush in to hunt, I would probably force the entire monkey troop to abandon this place and migrate to other places.

Forget it.

Following the route he remembered, Li Yi returned to the area where he had ingested the poisonous flowers and herbs.

The place was quite peaceful, with no accidents occurring. The fear brought by the demonic tree did not seem to have affected this area. The poisonous flowers and plants here grew more and more luxuriantly, with vibrant colors, and many species that Li Yi had never seen before appeared.

Li Yi slowly approached the place, but still couldn't sense any life force. He only felt the alluring scents and strange vitality released by the flowers and plants in front of him.

So it opened its mouth, bit off three brightly colored, different little flowers, wrapped them in mud, and prepared to leave.

Its back injury has recurred, causing a burning pain that is becoming increasingly intense.

I must return to the big willow tree as soon as possible and have the white python help me suppress it.

Not long after Li Yi turned to leave, a brightly colored toad slowly emerged from inside the cluster of vibrant poisonous flowers and plants.

The toad's two eyes, one black and one white, with a small, round, dark green dot for its pupil, were watching Li Yi leave.

A short while later, it actually spoke in human language, muttering to itself:

"Interesting, very interesting. I have been asleep for decades, and when I awoke, I encountered such a strange black-scaled crocodile that dared to eat the poisonous flowers and herbs growing all over my body."

"But I can't leave here yet... I'm so sleepy."

After shaking its head for a while, the toad seemed to get sleepy again. It yawned and retreated back into the cluster of bright flowers.

As dusk approached and night was about to fall, Li Yi kept his mouth tightly shut until he saw the faint shadow of the large willow tree in front of him, at which point he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally back..."

With a limp, Li Yi returned to the tree hole. At that moment, the white python had just finished its cultivation, breathing in the twilight glow, and hurriedly approached, its tail tip poking towards a certain spot on Li Yi's back.

hiss……

A short, sharp sound of something being violently evaporated rang out.

Li Yi felt the cool sensation, which greatly reduced the pain. Like a timely help, the pain was suppressed again. His tail swayed slightly behind him, and he closed his eyes.

After a long while, the white python coiled its body close to Li Yi, closed its eyes to rest, and waited for the moonlight to descend.

Li Yi was also waiting.

Today's trip was worthwhile; I obtained a lot of information, the most crucial of which was the location of that demonic tree with a low level of intelligence.

It seems to have taken root near the fruit trees.

This was undoubtedly a good thing for Li Yi. Confirming its exact location was much better than having a deadly threat roaming around all the time.

Since the demon tree didn't intend to leave anytime soon, Li Yi even came up with the idea of ​​driving a few of the red-faced monkeys that had gone out to the demon tree himself.

This way, the tree can remain calm and keep the demon tree in the dark, believing that more monkeys will come knocking on its door, thus encouraging it to stay in that place.

This is indeed a good plan.

Li Yi pondered for a long time and nodded to himself, as long as it didn't threaten him.

Before long, the white python's delicate body gently brushed across Li Yi's back, avoiding his wound, reminding him that the moonlit night had arrived and it was time to cultivate.