From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

Seeing this scene before him, a large, twisted and ferocious clump of ancient vines was drilling into the cracked trunk of the Demon Tree. Li Yi immediately emerged from the mud and opened his mouth wide.

Several poison bullets spun out and exploded on the half-climbed ancient vine with a series of bangs.

Black venom splattered everywhere, the ancient vine trembled violently, and then its dark green surface was severely corroded.

laugh!

A dark green spike struck the black scales on Li Yi's back with a clang, but was immediately bounced off.

Li Yi coldly watched the ancient vine twist and struggle, wildly shooting out the thorns from its tendrils in all directions, without getting close, just watching it.

Chaotic mental fluctuations emanated from its body, as if... it had just awakened, and had been awakened by mistake.

After struggling for a while, the ancient vine hung from the charred tree trunk. At this moment, the flames on the Devil Tree had been extinguished.

Its exterior was charred black, its leaves were gone, and most of its branches were burned to charcoal, but the purple foxfire failed to destroy its trunk.

And there are still wisps of life flowing through it.

The ancient vine was the same; although it was motionless, it still had a vitality. After a long time, it twisted and burrowed into the cracked tree trunk again.

Whoosh!

A series of poison bombs exploded again on its body and deep within the trunk of the Devil Tree. The black swamp water, carrying a potent toxicity, rapidly eroded the core of the Devil Tree.

boom!

Its thick root system suddenly jerked up, heavily pounding against the surrounding silt. Clearly, a large part of its life force remained in its roots, unaffected by the flames.

However, in Li Yi's view, suffering such a severe injury was no different from being dead.

Out of caution, Li Yi continued to wait.

About an hour later, the ancient vine actually started moving again, displaying terrifying vitality, and continued to burrow into the tree trunk.

But at this moment, the roots of this devilish ancient tree began to twist and turn, hooking onto the intertwined trunks of the ancient vines and pulling them downwards.

These two spirits of plants and trees, both at the ninth level of Qi Refining, used their last strength to fight each other, one trying to burrow into the tree trunk, and the other trying to pull it out.

Li Yi didn't want to get close to these two strange things. In its view, these two things were only slightly better than the strange insects from the distant past, but unlike normal swamp creatures, they exuded an eeriness.

So it continued to slowly and deliberately spew out black poison bullets, eroding the last vestiges of life from the ancient vines and the demon tree.

It is incredibly patient, never in a hurry, always keeping its distance and wary of any hidden cards its opponent might be holding.

After a slow and twisting struggle, the ancient vine seemed to die completely, its intertwined bodies loosening, and some green sap flowing out.

The roots of the Devil Tree also stopped in mid-air, and the charred trunk continued to crack, revealing a soft reddish-brown light.

There seems to be something inside its trunk.

Li Yi observed carefully for a long time before slowly stepping forward to see what was going on with this ancient devil tree.

When it cautiously approached the split trunk of the Demon Tree, something radiating a rich spiritual energy appeared inside.

From within the split trunk of the Demon Tree, a heart-like structure emerged, translucent and shimmering with a red light that seemed to glow like the pulse of breath.

Just by getting close, Li Yi felt a violent mental fluctuation affecting him.

A bloodthirsty desire sprouted in his heart, but it was quickly crushed and dissipated by the pure and impure energy within his body.

By the time Li Yi realized what was happening, it had already opened its mouth.

However, even though the influence had completely disappeared, Li Yi still looked at the heart of the demonic ancient tree with apprehension.

It is indeed a rare and precious treasure, brimming with vitality and carrying the sweet taste of fresh blood, but it also carries great danger.

After thinking for a moment, Li Yi still bit off a piece of the tree heart and examined it closely.

Inside the translucent heartwood, there seems to be a faint, perfectly regular, black, and sharply defined square outline.

There are also ancient dark gold characters on it that light up and dim from time to time.

Li Yi looked at it over and over again, and finally figured out the words on each face of the cube. There were words on only four faces of the cube, and they were connected in a circle, covering all four faces.

Put them together and you get 【丙玖肆柒】.

Bing 947? Is this a serial number?

The toad once said that the Devil Tree was left behind by a human sect that had once appeared in this swamp long ago but mysteriously disappeared. Now it seems... that's indeed the case.

These numbered blocks were definitely made by humans.

This appears to be the core of the Demon Tree, something like a heart, and is most likely a useful object.

As for the twisted and dead ancient vines beside it, they had gradually dissolved into a pool of dark green liquid, emitting an extremely pungent odor that even Li Yi, who was used to the swamp environment, found very unpleasant.

Nothing else was left behind.

After watching for a while, Li Yi slowly bit the red-glowing tree heart into his mouth, feeling the violent intent that no longer affected him, and slowly sank into the mud.

It's time to leave.

The biggest gain this time was getting rid of the old fox, which reduced the threat the red foxes posed to their territory.

Furthermore, it has a better understanding of the Devil Tree.

What exactly is the relationship between the ancient vine and the devilish ancient tree? Is it symbiosis, parasitism, or possession?

As Li Yi trudged through the mud, a series of questions arose in his mind.

There was no other way; there was an even more threatening demonic ancient tree in its territory, and it had to consider this problem.

As night fell, Li Yi emerged from the mud and returned to the yellow crystal mine shrouded in darkness. It slowly swayed its limbs and stepped onto the solid mineral ground.

The entire citrine vein emitted a faint yellow glow in the darkness, attracting many light-attracting flying insects that fluttered haphazardly around it.

Whoops!

A gust of green wind, about the size of a palm, blew out of the mine, instantly sweeping away swarms of flying insects.

The mother crocodile slowly poked her head out of the mine, her eerie green eyes fixed on Li Yi.

"Why are you so late? How did it go?"

After a spiritual exchange, the mother crocodile learned of the old fox's death, followed by a series of changes, which prompted her to ponder deeply.

"The Ancient Vine Clan is the most mysterious, the fewest in number, and has a huge body. It never actively expands its territory. The other two major clans don't even know how they cultivate."

"Ancient vines have actually crawled into the Devil's Tree? This is truly..."

Li Yi kept his mouth tightly shut, holding the glowing red tree heart inside. He wasn't sure if this thing would drive the mother crocodile mad, and planned to try it again when he returned to the big willow tree.

Under the cover of night, Li Yi and the mother crocodile returned home laden with their catch.