From Swamp Dog to Crocodile Ancestor

As the sun rises and sets, day and night alternate, and a ray of dawn falls on the black scales on Li Yi's back, reflecting a dazzling light, Li Yi opens his eyes.

There is no dew in the marshland in the early morning.

With his massive body slowly rising, Li Yi made his final descent into the hollow of the large willow tree, to feel the aura released by the mother crocodile up close.

The oily green light illuminated the entire hollow of the large willow tree. At this moment, the mother crocodile was completely still, and her breathing and heartbeat could not be detected.

A layer of lush green swamp plants and algae grows from its dense green scales, completely covering its massive body.

Now, in front of Li Yi lies a green stone whose exact shape is no longer discernible, with only a vague outline remaining.

All vitality is on the surface, while the inside is frozen solid.

After a long time, the brown crystal in Li Yi's mouth completely lost its activity, and wisps of green whirlwind rose around him and disappeared in a flash.

In his spiritual world, Li Yi once again saw that mass of swampy energy composed of several colors.

Peeling away the outermost layer of earth-phase yellow mist and the innermost layer of flowing water-phase venom, a misty whirlwind silently swirls and howls, a vibrant green without any other colors, appearing before Li Yi's eyes.

Aside from the various impurities intertwined within the swampy air and some things that were impossible to comprehend, all that remained was that heavy whirlwind.

At a certain moment in his mental world, Li Yi felt his consciousness tremble, and then he fell rapidly like a shooting star.

The mass of swampy energy in front of him rapidly expanded, quickly filling his entire field of vision.

Its consciousness pierced through a vast expanse of yellow clouds, swept past countless impurities suspended in the surroundings, and was finally shattered by a swirling green whirlwind.

Outside, Li Yi suddenly opened his eyes, a green vortex swirling within his brownish-yellow pupils.

Li Yi has already grasped the opportunity presented by the Wood element.

Slowly exiting the tree hole of the large willow tree, Li Yi arrived in front of the insect nest, his body once again emanating a thick yellow mist as he continued to nurture the group of spirit insects.

A buzzing sound filled the air. A few of these spirit insects fell to the ground and died silently, while the rest roamed happily in the yellow mist.

Seeing the steadily increasing number of spirit insects, Li Yi nodded.

To raise these little guys, all it takes is time. When their shells naturally possess perfect yellow markings generation after generation, that's when the next stage of training begins.

Although we are still far from this goal, we are taking very solid steps.

Not long after the poison dissipated, a sudden, sharp pain in his back made Li Yi immediately turn his head to look in another direction.

Beneath the large willow tree, the white python coiled its body, with the fragment of the fox clan's Flame Breath Pearl floating in front of it, enveloped in a layer of pure solar flames, burning steadily.

Inside, a layer of dazzling purple flames flickered.

Feeling the resonance of another fragment on its back, Li Yi knew that the white python had already comprehended something, and perhaps soon it would have a way to heal its old injuries.

After watching for a while, Li Yi wagged his huge tail and burrowed into the mud, preparing to leave the big willow tree once again and head to the citrine vein near the cedar tree.

Wood phase is the rarest in swamps, unlike the ubiquitous soil phase and the water phase hidden deep in the swamp silt. Wood phase, which represents plants, is scarce.

Spirit trees like the Great Willow Tree repel the energy of the swamp and form their own protective zone. Although they grow in the swamp, they have little to do with the swamp wood element.

To accelerate the cultivation of the Wood element, more brown crystals are needed. The brown crystals brought back earlier were consumed very quickly, with most of them being used by the mother crocodile for foundation building.

Now that the white python has mastered the Solar Flame, it doesn't really need yellow crystals anymore, but the more the better, as there's never a bad thing in cultivating faster.

With that in mind, Li Yi wandered around the territory, first leisurely arriving near the red-leaf banyan tree to take a look.

The ancient, strange insects that had eroded the red-leaf banyan tree posed a greater threat to Li Yi than the ancient devil tree that was currently building its foundation.

Senior Toad clearly stated that the Demon Tree's foundation building process would take at least another ten years, while the ancient and strange insect was unpredictable and could erupt completely at any time.

Ahead, that dazzling red had dimmed considerably.

Li Yi slowly approached, emerging from the mud ten feet away, and quietly gazed at the motionless red-leaf banyan tree amidst the hazy poisonous haze.

Beneath the tree, the old baboon's fur had somehow stood upright again, facing the tree trunk, leaving Li Yi with a chilling silhouette.

The entire lush, bright red leaves of the banyan tree are changing. Centipede-like patterns gradually spread across the leaves, causing the vibrant red color to fade.

All that remained was a dark, somber color, exuding an indescribable strangeness.

At this moment, the red-leaf banyan tree resembled a terminally ill person, its skin waxy yellow and exuding an aura of decay.

After looking around for a while and finding that the banyan tree showed no signs of moving, Li Yi quietly left.

Before long, a thin, yellow-black shadow hopped over there.

It was a female antelope with slender limbs, very short and soft horns, clear and gentle eyes, and a swollen belly.

It slowly came to lie down under the sacred tree, and the breeze at its mouth, nose, and feet dissipated.

The air here is very fresh, free from the ubiquitous toxic pollutants.

A tranquil atmosphere enveloped the surroundings. The mother antelope pricked up her ears but comfortably closed her eyes, lying down to rest with her head drooping at an angle.

Soon after, a red leaf drifted down and landed in front of it.

The mother antelope twitched her nose, opened her eyes and stared curiously at the leaf that looked somewhat ugly, then looked up at the dense canopy above.

A strange and alluring scent emanated from the leaves.

After thinking for a moment, it tentatively put the leaf in its mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it.

The result was unexpectedly good. The mother antelope shook her head and lazily lay down under the banyan tree, seemingly not planning to leave.

Then, every now and then, a leaf would fall from the dense canopy...

Leaving his own territory, Li Yi wandered silently through the mud, encountering no trouble along the way, and smoothly arrived in the direction of the cedar tree.

The towering, hazy silhouettes of the cedar trees, rising high into the clouds, stood remarkably straight amidst the yellow mist.

Upon arriving near the cedar tree, Li Yi saw a group of red foxes sitting under the tree and immediately stopped in his tracks.

Among this group of red foxes, there were many more beings with considerable cultivation, who appeared to be newcomers. Some of them were missing limbs, suggesting they had been through a major battle.

A large group of red foxes remained there peacefully. They had lost their leader and were divided by several outsiders, so they were temporarily stuck in place.