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Next, Ye Feng could be said to have taken care of the King Cobra meticulously.
Almost every 10 minutes, he would use tree roots to check if it was lacking in Spiritual Energy, and if so, he would immediately transfer some over.
This situation lasted for two hours, which was the third hour after the King Cobra's breakthrough, and finally, the coiled body of the serpent began to move.
Sounds of cracking and popping erupted from its body, as if bones were grinding violently against each other.
At the same time, its body inflated like a balloon, visibly swelling.
The size was increasing, the body elongating.
After dozens of minutes, the King Cobra finally completed its breakthrough.
By then, its length had reached 10 meters, and the width of its body was almost as big as a human's waist.
After the breakthrough, it seemed extremely excited, hissing and flicking its forked tongue, and very humanely nodding its head towards Ye Feng, its cold pupils even showing a rare hint of gratitude.
Seeing this, Ye Feng immediately opened the affiliate panel and saw that the King Cobra's Loyalty had surged by 5%, reaching a level of 90%.
"Is it because I kept helping to infuse Spiritual Energy during their breakthroughs?" Ye Feng guessed.
But soon, his attention shifted to the strength of the King Cobra.
After sending the King Cobra a command to spar, five tree roots suddenly appeared from the ground, swiftly coiling towards it.
The recently breakthrough King Cobra also seemed eager to test its strength, fearlessly meeting the challenge.
Ye Feng's tree roots lashed at the King Cobra, seemingly having no effect whatsoever.
The King Cobra, on the other hand, took this opportunity to coil around in return.
In almost an instant, Ye Feng felt a tremendous squeezing force from the tree roots that were being bitten and coiled around by the opponent.
However, even ordinary tree roots are quite resistant to pressure, not to mention those he had strengthened many times over.
But when the King Cobra constricted its prey, the bite seemed only secondary; after coiling around, it immediately opened its mouth wide. Its fangs glinted coldly as it bit down hard.
What's the most terrifying thing about a King Cobra? That would, of course, be its venom.
The venom of the King Cobra contains neurotoxins and cytotoxins, a mixture of poisons, making it exceptionally troublesome if bitten.
Of course, this is in reference to animals.
As for plants, naturally, there's not much effect.
But as the venom poured in, Ye Feng was shocked to find that the section of the tree root was quickly withering.
"Is this a corrosive effect?" Ye Feng was surprised; he hadn't expected the King Cobra's venom to have evolved as well.
Of course, he was just surprised, as the withering of that section of the tree root quickly slowed down.
After spreading out for five or six meters, it stopped, and then as if by some miraculous force, the withered tree root began to rejuvenate.
"As I thought, the effect of Spiritual Energy is truly miraculous; it can even remove venom, though the consumption is a bit high," Ye Feng was somewhat emotional.
He estimated that to entirely clear out the venom would cost at least 10 points of Spiritual Energy.
For other Mutated Animals, they would have to combat the neurotoxins and cytotoxins, and the energy consumption would likely be five or six times his.
"Other Mutated Beings would die from the poison if they didn't have enough Spiritual Energy," Ye Feng concluded.
The King Cobra, seeing that its venom seemed to have no effect, was also surprised.
But it quickly adapted, changing its tactics to using its tail to lash out.
Ye Feng, of course, did not show weakness either, and immediately twisted the five tree roots into a rope, lashing back as well.
Thud!
A muted collision sound resounded.
Ye Feng's combined strike from the five tree roots could generate a force of over a thousand jin.
But this time, when it came to a contest of strength, it was his roots that were sent flying.
The tail of the King Cobra, after just a moment of concentration in midair, showed not the slightest damage to its scales.
"So strong!" Ye Feng was quite shocked; he calculated that the force of the opponent's strike was at least 1 ton, also known as 2000 jin.
And this King Cobra had just broken through to the Second Stage!
If it continued to breakthrough, and even reached the Third Order, wouldn't it be able to unleash a force of tens of tons with a single flick of its tail?
```
At this moment, Ye Feng was not happy but rather worried.
Even though humans possessed many lethal weapons, what would happen if just any mutated being could suddenly unleash a force of over a dozen tons?
Could humans truly prevail?
While Ye Feng was preoccupied with these concerns for his country and people, the King Cobra seemed to grow increasingly enthusiastic, charging straight towards him.
Seeing this, Ye Feng stopped indulging it and immediately drew out 50 tree roots, which he combined together to unleash a force of 5 tons.
In an instant, the King Cobra was sent flying over 50 meters away.
As it landed, its body curled up on itself and a large area of scales flaked off its belly, revealing the bloody and mangled flesh beneath.
"Damn, I went too hard," Ye Feng muttered, somewhat annoyed.
He certainly didn't want the loyalty he had painstakingly built up to fall again.
But when he glanced at the auxiliary panel, three question marks suddenly appeared over his head.
Loyalty had actually surged by 3%.
"What's going on?" A puzzled Ye Feng suddenly felt the King Cobra, through the capture contract, sending a signal of submission.
"So that's it? Increasing loyalty doesn't necessarily require currying favor, but thoroughly beating them into submission works too?"
"At least for creatures with more violent natures, this method seems to be effective," Ye Feng concluded.
At that moment, he decided that after these mutated animals broke through the Big Realm, they all needed a good thrashing.
The King Cobra, which was in the midst of showing submission, shuddered suddenly, feeling an inexplicable sense of unease.
Soon, the King Cobra was treated for its injuries and was also sent out to hunt.
Of course, what Ye Feng was more looking forward to was the possibility of them bringing back even better and stronger mutated animals.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of mutations currently occurred in small creatures, which were not what he wanted.
Moreover, he wasn't keen on repeatedly forming contracts with the same type of creatures.
After all, only with sufficient diversity among the mutated animals could the "Mutated Animal Special Forces" that he planned to establish in the future comfortably face various challenges.
Of course, if they were creatures at the top of the food chain, that would be a different matter altogether.
Time flew swiftly, and soon it was noon.
And Ye Feng received both good news and bad news.
The bad news was that sparrows, black crows, and bats seemed to have all hit a bottleneck, just like the Mutated Mice,
Their rate of absorbing Spiritual Energy had plummeted tenfold, and they were unable to break through.
This was quite distressing for Ye Feng. Now, he could only set his hopes on the Mutated Buffalo.
The Mutated Buffalo had already reached the Late Stage First Order, and at this rate, it should be able to hit the First Order Peak by evening. If all went well, it would break through to the Second Stage by dawn.
Then, having an extra Second Order Mutated Animal as backup when going to capture the Mutated Parrot would allow for a relatively calm response, even in case of sudden incidents.
Of course, the quick breakthrough of the Mutated Buffalo was within expectations and not exactly good news.
The good news was that the King Cobra had once again made a contribution, capturing another mutated animal that met Ye Feng's criteria for capture.
It was a Mutated Dog, to be precise, a Mutated Chinese Rural Dog, commonly known as a mongrel.
From the numerous old wounds and its unkempt appearance, Ye Feng could tell that the creature had likely been a stray.
This also explained why it had appeared in the area and then been captured by the King Cobra.
At home, Ye Feng had dogs and he was quite fond of them. As soon as the King Cobra dragged the dog into his territory, he extended two tree roots to gently pat the dog's head.
At first, the Big Yellow Dog was quite frightened.
But as its head was stroked and a bit of Spiritual Energy was infused into its body, it immediately calmed down,
Contently squinting its eyes, its ears perked up even more.
"Tsk! Quite obedient, aren't we?" said Ye Feng as he began the capture process.
To his surprise, the process went exceedingly smoothly, facing almost no resistance.
Upon completion of the contract, the initial loyalty was incredibly high at 81%, even higher than that of the two Mutated Sparrows.