From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

On this day, Li Yi swallowed a poisonous flower that was orange-red with white patterns. After feeling that he could withstand the poison, he relaxed, focused his mind, and sank deep into the swamp.

Harmony with nature and understanding the universe are the core secrets of animal cultivation.

Countless dark, flowing water-phase swampy gases were extracted from the turbid and mixed swampy gases and flowed through the black scales covering Li Yi's body, emitting a terrifying toxicity.

Finally, they converged and merged into the seven black scales on Li Yi's back.

As Li Yi felt the pure water energy, his cultivation level increased, and the power of the poison bullets he could use increased rapidly during this process.

As time passed, Li Yi realized once again that he had sunk to his limit and could not go any deeper, so he immediately turned around and surfaced.

If it's not mistaken, the maximum depth it can sink has increased slightly.

Over the past month, these small amounts have accumulated to a considerable sum.

Swamps are similar to oceans; the deeper you go, the more concentrated and condensed the swamp's aura becomes, resulting in stronger cultivation effects.

As the pressure on the scales gradually lessened, Li Yi relaxed, emerging from the mud and feeling the warmth of the sunlight on his back.

As dawn passed and noon approached, Li Yi arrived under the large willow tree, whereupon the white python coiled around him.

After working together to help the white python obtain the crimson midday glow, Li Yi twisted his massive body and approached the vicinity of the insect nest.

The dense yellow poisonous barrier gathered together, becoming a dark yellow liquid that flowed slowly, enveloping the insect nest.

Countless buzzing sounds were amplified and perceived by Li Yi. Within the yellow mist, the enemy's perception was weakened, while Li Yi's perception was enhanced.

A small number of the newly born spirit insects died during this process because they could not accept the dense poison barrier, and their silver bodies were quickly devoured by their companions.

On this day, another batch of spirit insects matured, their silver carapaces adorned with yellow stripes. They were no longer afraid of the dense poison barrier; instead, they were overjoyed and flew around Li Yi, flapping their wings.

Within a month, these spirit insects multiplied rapidly, and their numbers had increased by 50% compared to before.

Every day, Li Yi tempers them with poison barriers, which causes some of the spirit insects to die or fail, while most of the others grow.

According to Li Yi's observation, about one-tenth of the offspring of these spirit insects that have completed their metamorphosis naturally have yellow stripes on their backs and do not need to be tempered anymore.

This is undoubtedly a good thing.

Li Yi's observations were very meticulous. This proportion was subtly increasing over time, indicating that as the spirit insects reproduced, these little guys would inherit their innate swamp bloodline and become even stronger.

This is necessary to proceed to the next step of tempering.

Li Yi stared at the flying spirit insects around him, dispelling the yellow poison barrier around him, and thought to himself.

After completing his training and cultivation for the day, Li Yi would leave before nightfall to continue patrolling around the big willow tree and hunting down any red foxes that might wander into the vicinity.

However, this time Li Yi only hunted a few prey on the side and did not find any trace of the red foxes.

As dusk approached, Li Yi emerged from the mud, opened his eyes, looked around, and prepared to return to the big willow tree.

It seems the red foxes are scared.

As expected of an old fox, it was cunning and treacherous. Li Yi never saw it personally explore this area; all its subordinates were red-haired foxes with cultivation.

Without that powerful fragment of a magical artifact, the old fox hid even deeper.

Recently, these red foxes have almost disappeared from sight.

They seemed frightened by the traces they had created, and gradually stopped exploring the area, retreating into the banyan tree.

They probably discovered the existence of the Devil Tree as well.

Li Yi thought to himself.

The glow of dusk illuminated the large willow tree, draping it in a golden veil. The white python cultivated itself beneath the tree using yellow crystal, its body radiating a faint orange-yellow light.

Li Yi, with a piece of brown crystal in his mouth, lay outside the shelter of the large willow tree, sensing the energy of the swamp and accelerating his cultivation.

Citrine and brown quartz are indeed excellent spiritual objects for cultivation. One corresponds to the glow of sunset, and the other corresponds to the energy of swamps, making them very suitable.

However, they are consumed at a fast rate, and the ones Li Yi brought back probably won't last more than a few days.

It seems I'll have to find another opportunity to visit that mine.

After gaining a slight understanding of the red foxes' cultivation methods, Li Yi relaxed considerably, realizing that yellow crystal might not be essential for them.

In addition, there is a demon tree there, so they may not continue fighting forever and will most likely abandon that mine.

This way, it will be much safer for me to go mining.

Just as Li Yi finished his cultivation and was deep in thought, the white python trembled, immediately turned its head to stare into the distance, and hissed.

A large group of creatures' presence entered Li Yi's territory.

Li Yi did not act rashly, but instead lay hidden beneath the mud, spreading his senses outwards to encompass the group of uninvited guests.

It was a group of green crocodiles, seemingly a clan, with about forty or fifty of them, some of whom were with young crocodiles, protected in the center of the group.

The golden rays of the sunset fell upon these enormous creatures, covered in fine green scales and with brownish-yellow eyes, exuding an aura of menace.

Several waves of spiritual energy surged around, one of which was particularly powerful, reaching the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage.

Dozens of cold gazes fell on the white python. Although the white python was nervous, it was also full of momentum and released its own Qi Refining Stage 8 aura.

The atmosphere suddenly became almost frozen.

Unsure of the other party's intentions, Li Yi slowly approached the group of green-scaled crocodiles, his chilling killing intent already emanating from him as he chose his first target to kill.

Just then, the most powerful aura stirred; it was the largest green-scaled crocodile, much larger than the green crocodile that Li Yi had previously faced.

What distinguishes it from other green-scaled crocodiles is not only its cultivation level and size, but also its eyes.

The white python stared into its emerald-like, beautiful eyes, which also revealed a cold and violent nature, and a sense of oppression descended upon it.

Crocodiles possess a trace of dragon blood, but only a trace.

If there's one thing about crocodiles that's most similar to dragons, it's undoubtedly their eyes.

The enormous female crocodile's pair of green eyes foreshadowed its powerful lineage.

"Don't be nervous, little snake, we're just passing by, we don't need shelter."

A deep, magnetic female voice came from the mother crocodile's slightly open mouth, causing the mud beneath her to ripple and vibrate.