As a tree unable to move, Ye Feng had limited targets he could devour.
The first he selected were the earthworms in the soil.
With a dense network of roots, finding the earthworms in the dirt was incredibly simple, and he quickly locked onto one.
It is worth mentioning that the earthworms of today had also mutated to a certain degree, and their size was now comparable to that of chopsticks.
This was somewhat frightening, but Ye Feng did not care at all; his main root moved in, quickly entwining the earthworm.
The mutated earthworm tried to struggle, but roots from every side were swiftly upon it, and within seconds, it was thoroughly subdued.
Ye Feng's thoughts moved, and he activated his Devouring Ability.
Then he could feel the roots continuously drawing out specks of Spiritual Energy and Bioenergy from the earthworm.
In just a dozen or so seconds, the earthworm shriveled up and lost all signs of life.
"Increased by 1 Spirit Point and Bioenergy," Ye Feng glanced at the system panel and was overjoyed.
If it had been up to him to absorb, he would have needed at least 1 hour.
But now, he had gotten it within just 1 minute.
Having tasted the benefits, he naturally continued with renewed vigor.
In the next ten minutes, Ye Feng found a total of 5 earthworms, devouring them all and increasing his Spirit Points and Bioenergy by 5.
"Is that all? There are too few creatures underground," Ye Feng scanned the ground with his roots once more, and after confirming there were no oversights, he sighed softly.
His gaze could only shift to the ground above.
Compared to underground, there were much more creatures on the surface he could devour.
Passing ants, centipedes, and crickets all became his targets.
Now his main root was 21.4 meters long, and the length of the lateral roots was about 80% of the main root, which is 17.1 meters.
Under these conditions, any insect within a 17-meter radius of his tree body could be relatively easily hunted.
Beyond 17 meters, he could only rely on the main root to hunt, and the difficulty increased drastically.
However, he was located in the dense forest of a valley, and within a 17-meter range, there were quite a few creatures.
Next was the hunting moment!
Centered on him, centipedes, crickets, and ants were rapidly disappearing.
The three creatures, the finger-thick Mutated Centipedes, could also provide 1 point of Spiritual Energy and Bioenergy, but alas, they were too few in number.
As for crickets, they could only provide 0.7 of a Spirit Point, and the mutated crickets were extremely agile, easily leaping one to two meters with a light jump, making them quite difficult to catch.
Therefore, compared to these two creatures, the Mutated Ants were actually Ye Feng's favorite targets.
Although the fingertip-sized Mutated Ants could only provide him with 0.1 of a Spirit Point and Bioenergy, there were many ants.
Every now and then, an ant would pass through his territory while foraging, so on the whole, the ants provided the most Spiritual Energy.
An hour flew by in a blink of an eye.
Ye Feng glanced at the system panel, and his Spirit Points had increased to 20, while his Bioenergy had even reached 25 points.
Ye Feng was quite satisfied with the speed of the increase in Spiritual Energy, at least it was much faster than the automatically increased Spirit Points.
Clearly, his previous decision was the right one.
"It's time to add points."
The longer the roots, the more convenient it was for him to use his Devouring Ability.
Three minutes later.
Ye Feng had completed his third point addition, and counting the previous seven times, he had now added points a total of 10 times.
At this moment, the Evolution Points section of the system panel finally changed from 0 to 1.
"Huh! So that's how you get Evolution Points; adding points 10 times earns you 1 Evolution Point."
"Accumulating 10 Evolution Points allows for one evolution, and the difficulty isn't too great," Ye Feng was pleasantly surprised.
Compared to making his roots grow longer, of course, evolving was far more important.
Only through constant evolution could he become ever stronger, and maybe, if strong enough, he might be able to break free from his current shackles.
Next, Ye Feng continued adding points while hunting.
His root length steadily increased at a rate of 20 centimeters per minute.
It wasn't until 25 minutes later that Ye Feng completed 25 point additions.
Yes, exactly 25 times.
Because in those 25 minutes, as he hunted, he gained another 8 Spirit Points and Bioenergy.
At this time, Ye Feng opened the system panel to take a look.
Host: Ye Feng (World Tree)
Tree Body Height: 10 meters
```
Trunk Diameter: 0.5 meters
Root Length: 27 meters
Realm: Early Stage First Order
Evolution Points: 3/10 points
Special Ability: Devour
Spirit Point: 0/100 points
Bioenergy: 8/100 points
In just over an hour, the length of his roots had increased by 7 meters, and he had accumulated 3 Evolution Points.
"Very good! If all goes well, I should be able to complete my first evolution tonight," Ye Feng felt a surge of joy and worked even harder.
However, at 8 p.m., when Ye Feng tallied up the harvest of the second hour, he realized he was wrong.
In that hour, he had only gained a total of 16 Spirit Points and Bioenergy.
"The insects around here are thinning out," Ye Feng frowned slightly.
This was quite an alarming piece of news and, as time went on, the insects would become scarcer due to his continuous devouring.
Just as Ye Feng was feeling troubled, suddenly a Mutated Frog hopped into his field of vision.
His current vision wasn't much different from when he was alive; if he shifted his view to the top of the tree, he could see even further.
Right now, he watched as the Mutated Frog bounced in his direction.
Although the frog's route wasn't directly towards him, it would cross over his "territorial" range.
Ye Feng started to get excited. The Mutated Frog was as big as the palm of a regular person's foot.
Devouring it would be equivalent to at least two to three hundred Mutated Ants.
Of course, capturing it wouldn't be easy, as the frog could easily leap 5 meters with a light hop. Although his main root was already 27 meters long, he would at most have two or three chances to make a move.
He had to be prepared, already "marshaling his troops" underground.
The main root and 100 lateral roots had quietly formed a trap beneath the soil where the Mutated Frog couldn't see.
Finally, the Mutated Frog entered his territorial range.
Ye Feng didn't rush to act, waiting quietly for the frog to venture deeper.
When the Mutated Frog was within 5 meters, just about to pass by,
a root shot up from under the ground, swiftly entwining the unsuspecting frog.
Ye Feng's root lay hidden just 1 centimeter below the surface of the ground.
Caught by surprise at such a short distance, the frog's hind legs were quickly bound.
However, the Mutated Frog was incredibly agile; the moment it was entwined, those robust hind legs kicked hard against the ground, propelling it upward.
The subsequent roots failed to maintain control.
Moreover, the root that had ensnared the frog was torn off completely.
For the first time, Ye Feng felt pain, similar to a dislocated finger joint.
At this moment, he was both shocked and furious, and also vividly felt the threat these Mutated Beings posed to him.
"To think that I would be wounded by a frog—I am still too weak. I need to hasten my strengthening," Ye Feng admonished himself, but his roots did not slow down.
Although one root was torn off, it had played a significant role; the Mutated Frog's leaping distance had been greatly reduced, allowing only a three-meter jump.
Moreover, it lost its balance in mid-air and landed on its side.
By then, Ye Feng didn't need to hide anymore. Three roots near the frog's landing spot had already burst from the earth, dancing in the air.
The Mutated Frog hadn't even hit the ground when three roots wrapped around it.
But the Mutated Frog was powerfully strong; despite being in this disadvantageous situation, it struggled fiercely, and at the right moment, leaped again.
Even in its desperate state, it tore two more roots, but one still clung on, causing the frog to fall back down after clearing just one meter.
The rest of the roots had moved into place, particularly the thick main root that had arrived to join in, finally subduing the frog.
Immediately after, the Devouring Ability was activated, starting the absorption process.
This Mutated Frog provided him with a total of 25 Spirit Points and Bioenergy.
Though he lost three roots in this battle, they all had self-healing abilities and the broken parts weren't substantial, so they were likely to regrow within an hour.
For just that small price, he had gained 25 points of energy, which was certainly a profitable exchange.
"Excellent, if only more Mutated Frogs would come by, I might be able to evolve directly," Ye Feng was in an excellent mood.
At this moment, he even thought of the Mutated Wild Boar that had overturned their bus earlier.
If he could devour such a large Mutated Wild Boar, he might be able to evolve many times over.
```