Ye Feng soon captured the Mutated Hedgehog with ease, reaching a total of ten captured mutated animals.
As Ye Feng infused Spiritual Energy into the Mutated Hedgehog, he discovered its "Talent" was ordinary, capable of storing only four points of Spiritual Energy.
It was on the same level as the previous bats and black crows.
Though its Talent was nothing remarkable, Ye Feng felt it was still of some use. Although it was only at Mid Stage First Order, its spines were already as sharp as steel needles.
Now only the King Cobra and the Mutated Buffalo dared to provoke it with their formidable defenses, while the other mutated animals did not dare to touch it.
Of course, the Mutated Hedgehog could only counterattack defensively due to its lack of speed.
"I hope there will be some surprises later on."
After teasing the Mutated Hedgehog with some roots, Ye Feng started to infuse Spiritual Energy into the other mutated beings.
Once all the mutated beings had rested, Ye Feng let the King Cobra and others move freely.
Meanwhile, he possessed a sparrow, commanding the black crows and bats to follow it as they flew straight towards Dongwu Mountain in the southwest.
If the Mutated Wild Boar had left the vicinity, then continuing the search would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, so he decided to temporarily set aside that matter and start looking for eagles instead.
He hadn't been idle that morning, using his phone to search online for places with eagle nests near Yang City.
In the end, he actually pinpointed two locations: the first was Dongwu Mountain, and surprisingly, the second was Small Phoenix Mountain.
So, he planned to visit these two places first.
Dongwu Mountain was not far from Sunset Valley, only ten kilometers away in a straight line.
Under Ye Feng's command, the entire aerial squadron progressed rapidly. He had dispatched all Level 2 Mutated Creatures; while their combat strength was lacking, their flying speed was not slow.
So in less than ten minutes, they had entered the range of Dongwu Mountain.
The north side of Dongwu Mountain was a cliff, a place where eagles generally liked to nest. Hence, finding their nests there shouldn't be difficult in theory.
However, after circling the cliff twice, Ye Feng found nothing.
To ensure nothing was overlooked, he even searched the other directions around Dongwu Mountain, only to leave with a light sigh after half an hour.
"I hope I'll find something on Small Phoenix Mountain, otherwise I really don't know where to look," Ye Feng prayed to himself.
Fifteen minutes later, the aerial squadron he commanded was nearing Small Phoenix Mountain.
But to anyone approaching Small Phoenix Mountain, the first thing to catch their attention wouldn't be the mountain itself, but the colossal Old Chinese Scholar Tree growing halfway up its slope.
This Mutated Old Locust Tree stood at 360 meters in height, while Small Phoenix Mountain was a hill with an altitude of around 400 meters.
That meant the height of the Mutated Old Locust Tree was nearly that of the entire hill, rendering an impressive and majestic sight against such a backdrop.
Ye Feng, controlling a possessed Mutated Sparrow, approached steadily.
There was a cliff on the south side of Small Phoenix Mountain as well, but Ye Feng did not head in that direction. Instead, he flew straight towards the Mutated Old Locust Tree.
This was because, for the past few days, he had been pondering a question.
After mutating, did other plants truly not develop intelligence?
The present Old Chinese Scholar Tree, by Ye Feng's estimation, had reached Third Order, arguably the most highly mutated tree near Yang City, second only to him.
From the state of the Old Chinese Scholar Tree, he could roughly infer the condition of other mutated trees.
Soon, the sparrow controlled by Ye Feng drew closer and closer until it smoothly landed on one of the branches of the Mutated Old Locust Tree.
The Old Chinese Scholar Tree remained still and quiet, swaying gently with the wind but with no other movements.
Of course, this was within Ye Feng's expectations, and he began to scratch the bark with his bird claws, persistently striving until he finally broke through the bark.
But the Old Locust Tree in front of him remained unresponsive.
Could it be that mutated plants truly do not develop intelligence?
While pondering, Ye Feng took flight, testing his idea on a whim.
However, he had barely taken off when his movements suddenly halted.
He had the feeling that he might have overlooked something.
With this doubt in mind, he circled the Old Locust Tree and finally spotted something peculiar.
Logically, such a large Old Locust Tree should be an ideal place for birds to rest or even build nests.
But there were no birds at all on this Mutated Old Locust Tree, let alone bird nests.
"Huh!" He regained control of the little sparrow and flew back to the original position.
But still, he discovered no issues.
He could only have this sparrow stand by here while he switched his Avatar Status to another sparrow and sent it to scout the cliffs south of Small Phoenix Mountain.
Disappointingly, after circling the area, he still did not find any trace of the hawk.
Ye Feng felt somewhat unwilling to give up and continued to lead the search in other areas of Small Phoenix Mountain, hoping to find a clue.
But contrary to his wishes, the hawk's trail was nowhere to be found.
However, he did discover something special about Small Phoenix Mountain.
The Spiritual Energy here seemed unusually abundant, at least in comparison to other places.
This was also why, being in the body of a sparrow and absorbing Spiritual Energy at a much slower rate, he would have noticed immediately if he himself had been here.
"The Spiritual Energy here is probably 50% denser than other places, why such a difference?" Ye Feng wondered in surprise.
It reminded him of the Amazon rainforest, where the rate of animal mutation was exceptionally fast; could it be due to an unusual concentration of Spiritual Energy?
While he was thinking about these things, his main body, through their bond, received a surge of panic from the other sparrow.
Hmm?
Almost instantly, he switched his Avatar Status over.
The next moment, he was shocked to find that he had been encircled by upright branches without realizing it, the leaves on the branches overlapping and completely sealing off any space for escape.
Moreover, the "Tree Cage" surrounding him was tightening continuously.
He was greatly alarmed, and the only thought in his mind was one.
The Old Locust Tree had truly turned into a spirit!!!
Of course, his alarm was momentary, and he knew he needed to get the sparrow out first.
He quickly chose a spot with fewer leaves and began to strike furiously with his claws.
But to no effect; he had to exert his full strength just to tear through two leaves.
He had anticipated this to some extent, knowing full well the strength of Third Order plants.
These leaves seemed ordinary, but in reality, their toughness was comparable to that of metal sheets.
So after trying just once, he immediately called for reinforcements.