From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

After the formation was completed, the old fox released his grip, and the purple fragment in his hand instantly flew out, piercing into the heart of the baboon at the very center with a hiss.

The seventh-level Qi Refining baboon trembled slightly before completely relaxing and losing its life in a coma.

Then, a black stone knife appeared in the old fox's hand again. The wavy blade reflected the light of the morning sun and gleamed coldly. However, it was not a magic weapon, but just an extremely sharp object.

With a casual wave of its hand, the throat of another baboon in the center of the formation was slit, and blood splattered out, quickly staining the ground beneath it red.

The old fox began chanting incantations again, his footsteps shifting mysteriously as baboons had their throats slit, their blood splattering as they died.

From the very center of the formation to its outer edge, the entire baboon troop was eventually killed according to some strange and bizarre ritual.

Their blood stained the ground beneath the banyan trees, seeping into the swamp and making the scenery even more vibrant.

Everywhere was a blood-red mess.

When the last baboon was killed by having its throat slit, the blood on the ground seemed to flow with life, which could be clearly seen from Li Yi's perspective.

Blood flowed along the charred lines on the ground, quickly converging towards the center, and then the outermost baboon carcasses rapidly shriveled up.

The gurgling sound carried a kind of demonic quality, amplifying the stench of blood tenfold or a hundredfold, exploding near the red-leafed banyan tree and radiating outwards to the surrounding swamp.

Even Li Yi could smell the delicious aroma, and his throat moved slightly.

However, it was very wary of the strange formation under the tree, and even now, it was unsure what the old fox was doing.

After finishing everything, the old fox got up wearily, waved his hand again, and the other nine red foxes immediately left without hesitation, heading towards the cedar tree.

Only the old fox remained standing outside the formation, dipping its blood-stained feet into the mud to remove the smell of blood. Then, it didn't even care about the purple fragments and darted into the dense canopy of the red-leaf banyan tree.

The formation was still operating, seemingly without any terrifying power, merely gathering the blood as if to attract something.

Silence fell as a red leaf drifted down from the sky, eventually landing on a pool of blood illuminated by the morning light.

Not long after, many figures began to peer around the banyan tree.

They are all different; poisonous insects and wild beasts—anything that craves blood is hard to resist this temptation and are drawn in from all directions.

All eyes were drawn to the feast held beneath the red-leaved banyan tree.

As they drew closer, the old fox hidden in the tree made no attempt to interfere, allowing them to approach with such eager anticipation.

Soon after, a rustling sound came from one direction of the swamp again. It seemed ordinary, but it caused a huge commotion in an instant.

A hideous, venomous insect hissed and darted into the mud.

A wild beast with black fur, its brownish-yellow eyes, which had been filled with bloodlust a moment ago, turned into deep fear the next. It let out a whimper and fled the place with its tail between its legs.

A group of predators, large and small, scattered immediately, as if they had encountered something they were terrified of.

Li Yi also sensed it, and slowly turned his head to look in that direction, trying his best to hide his aura.

It finally understood the purpose of this formation.

In the distance, a bizarre creature the size of a millstone slowly emerged from the mud, its body twisted and twitching, approaching the area in an unimaginable way.

Its main body is a colorful composite carapace structure, made up of many different creatures' carapaces, and it looks like something that appears in a nightmare.

Dozens of tentacles extend from various parts of the carapace, including hairy spider legs, longer and thinner ones, octopus-like tentacles, and a whole centipede-like leg structure...

This is a creature so bizarre it's unimaginable.

Li Yi's gaze fell on a cavity in its body, which contained a fluorescent blue liquid with dozens of eyes of different sizes, colors, and shapes flowing through it.

That ancient strange insect.

After being infected by the toad's innate toxin, it not only did not die, but also completely changed its appearance, no longer belonging to the same species as before.

Moreover, its aura was clearly only one step away from Foundation Establishment, a strange situation that Li Yi found even more incomprehensible.

According to its observations, there should be no intermediate transition between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment. One either succeeds in Foundation Establishment or fails, falling back to the Qi Refining stage or dying.

The ancient strange insect's aura is fluctuating wildly, in a peculiar state, as if it could successfully establish its foundation at any moment.

The ancient, strange insect approached silently, twisting and turning until it reached the red-leaf banyan tree. Completely unafraid of the tree's protective power, it stepped into the formation.

The wonderful smell of blood attracted it, and it was the first time Li Yi had ever seen it feeding.

Its haphazardly inlaid carapace split open, supported by bones covered in green slime, exposing many deformed and disordered internal organs that hung inside the carapace.

Many suckers with different tentacles emerged from it, pulling all the baboon carcasses and blood on the ground into its body.

After expanding its body several times its original size, the blood and baboon carcasses were quickly stuffed inside, dissolved rapidly by something, and collapsed.

The ancient monster's limbs writhed, its entire carapace slowly closing, squeezing flesh and bones inward, while the liquid containing its eyes flowed throughout its body.

Some yellowish-green and brownish-black digestive fluids and blackened, rotting blood were squeezed out and splattered everywhere.

When its entire carapace is completely closed, without a single gap, it seems that it has finished eating, but it stays in place without moving.

Is this... digesting?

Li Yi felt that his mind had been polluted in some way, and a strange, nauseating feeling lingered in his mind.

This creature is far too peculiar; how can such a life exist?

After a long time, the ancient strange insect slowly regained its ability to move, and its limbs were throbbing erratically, as if it was about to leave.

Just then, a purple light suddenly shone from somewhere inside its shell.

boom!

Its torso exploded open, sending countless broken organs and mucus flying out, along with a charred mark.

A purple flame was visible to the naked eye flowing continuously within its body.

The ancient, strange insect writhed menacingly, its internal structure twisting and shifting, as if trying to extract the foreign object inside.

But that thing seemed to possess its own life, burning everything and spontaneously resisting.