The Mutated Black Crows, Mutated Bats, and Mutated Sparrows waiting outside received the order and swiftly flew in the direction of Ye Feng.
Ye Feng switched to Avatar Status and from outside, he could see more clearly how this "Tree Cage" was formed.
The branches in the other directions were bending at this time, converging toward the place where the Mutated Sparrow was, and finally forming this cage.
This was something he could easily do himself, but watching the Old Chinese Scholar Tree do it, he felt an inexplicable chill in his heart.
As these trees continue to mutate, when the vast majority of the trees can "hunt" like the Old Chinese Scholar Tree, the wilderness might become a no-go zone for humans.
Of course, these thoughts were running through his mind, but his actions were not slow at all.
He commanded the Black Crows and the Bats to fly down, and they used their talons to scratch the leaves together.
Forget about the Mutated Sparrow, but after reaching the Second Order, the Mutated Black Crows and Mutated Bats were beings with a wingspan of 5 meters, talon length of half a meter, and they also carried sharp barbs.
With one swipe of their claws, they could tear off a dozen or so leaves and their attacking speed was extremely fast. Under the joint efforts of the Mutated Black Crows and Mutated Bats, leaves fell like snowflakes.
At this point, the Old Chinese Scholar Tree seemed to realize its prey was about to escape, so the Tree Cage closed faster, and the other branches stretched over, trying to trap the Black Crows and Bats as well.
But compared to Ye Feng, its speed was really too slow, taking about a minute to move just a meter.
To encircle the Mutated Bats and Mutated Black Crows, it would take at least 4 or 5 minutes.
Once he assessed the situation, Ye Feng felt secure, but his talons did not slow down at all. The Mutated Sparrow he possessed also kept clawing fiercely, and although its attacks were weak, their cumulative effect was significant.
Within one minute, under the inside and outside attacks of the four Mutated Beings, they rescued the trapped Mutated Sparrow.
Though he escaped quite easily, Ye Feng felt somewhat heavy-hearted as he flew into the sky.
The fact that the Old Chinese Scholar Tree had developed intelligence was something he had not anticipated, although he estimated that the intelligence was probably very weak and only instinctive "hunting."
But it's important to note that the Old Chinese Scholar Tree was currently just at Third Order, and as it continued to grow, it might reach the Fourth Order, Fifth Order, or even higher levels.
Who then can be sure what level its intelligence might reach?
Of course, worrying about the future was just one thing.
What truly weighed on Ye Feng was the fact that if humans became aware the Old Chinese Scholar Tree had intelligence and could even hunt other creatures, how would they react?
It is currently accepted that Mutated Plants pose no threat, partly because they can't move and partly because they lack offensive capabilities.
Now the lack of offensive capabilities can be dismissed.
In the situation just now, if the Mutated Sparrow couldn't escape, then a trapped human probably wouldn't be able to either.
So how would humanity react upon discovering this threat?
Any normal person would likely attempt to nip the danger in the bud.
When that happens, not only the Old Chinese Scholar Tree but also his Mutated Iron Birch Tree, recognized for its greater potential, would inevitably be affected.
"No, I have to 'protect' the Old Chinese Scholar Tree as well, preventing other humans from getting close and discovering its anomaly," Ye Feng whispered. Only by doing so could he suppress the matter temporarily.
But it was only temporary. He suspected that other places might also have Mutated Plants with offensive capabilities.
Right now, all he could do was try to delay as long as possible, allowing himself and his subordinates room to grow.
"Ah, what troubles."
Ye Feng flew back with a sense of disappointment. Not only had he gained nothing from this trip, but he had also received some bad news, so it was no wonder he felt down.
Leading a group of his followers, he had not flown far when he heard the commotion of Mutated Black Crows cawing chaotically.
Ye Feng looked over in confusion and a moment later, his face lit up with surprise.
In the distance, he could see a hawk swooping low, its claws clutching a wild rabbit—clear evidence it had just finished hunting.
"So much effort for nothing," Ye Feng shouted inwardly and flew straight towards it.
The hawk, which had just captured its prey, panicked upon seeing the four menacing birds approaching.
Among them, there wasn't a single bird smaller than it, and the two with wingspans reaching 5 meters posed a severe threat to it.
Yes, this was an unchanged hawk.
There are only a few kinds of mighty bird species, which are rare to begin with, and mutated ones are even scarcer.
Even though it hadn't mutated, Ye Feng wasn't disappointed. In fact, he had anticipated this situation.
He had already decided to capture it if he encountered one and then just wait for it to mutate after captivity.
Facing a powerful raptor like the hawk, Ye Feng didn't hesitate to offer a contract slot, even if it had not mutated.
The subsequent actions were rather straightforward. Against an unchanged hawk, not to mention the Black Crows and Bats, even two Mutated Sparrows could easily suppress it.
Although the two little sparrows weren't that strong, that was only relative to beings of the same order.
Against an unmutated being, they could easily dominate.
However, because unmutated creatures can't absorb Spiritual Energy to heal, Ye Feng was extra cautious when capturing them. He ordered a joint effort to capture the hawk without hurting it, if possible.
A minute later, the hawk was wailing miserably, a large patch of feathers missing from its body, and in the end, its wings were firmly gripped by the Mutated Bats as it began to fly back quickly.
Twenty minutes later, the group returned to Sunset Valley.
And Ye Feng successfully captured the hawk.
It's worth mentioning that although the hawk hadn't mutated yet, Ye Feng could distinctly feel its struggle was more intense than Mutated Hedgehogs and other creatures during the capture.
It almost matched the strength of the King Cobra which was still at the First Order.
After capture, the hawk's Loyalty was merely 70%.
Seeing this, Ye Feng raised an eyebrow, only able to remark, "It really lives up to the name of a raptor."
From then on, he had the 11th captured animal.
The double joy was that Big Yellow Dog was about to break through to the Second Order.
Of course, if it were merely breaking through to the Second Order, it wouldn't be a surprise.
But what was different was that Big Yellow Dog didn't need an Evolution Fruit to break through directly.
This meant that Big Yellow Dog, like the King Cobra, was a being with exceptional Talent.
After breaking through on its own, its Combat Power would often be stronger than others of the same Order.
Apart from Big Yellow Dog, considering the time, the King Cobra was also about to break through to the Late-stage Second Order, getting closer and closer to the Third Order.