The legend begins with becoming a white deer.

Su Yanji stood beside the cloud-carriage, looking at the white deer neighing softly before her, her eyes filled with curiosity and doubt.

She couldn't understand what Qi Ji meant.

But one can understand to some extent that the spirit beast white deer's behavior was probably because it wanted to find something to ask of him.

To be able to have a celestial beast actively block his path and ask him for help was something Su Yanji had never experienced before, and he felt a strange sense of accomplishment.

She crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and chuckled, "My dear White Deer, I can't understand beast language. What exactly do you want by blocking my caravan in such a grand manner? You couldn't possibly be planning to openly demand more after stealing five of my precious herbs last time, could you?"

(￣ ^ ￣)

Qi Ji was speechless. Although he felt a strange craving, he was too lazy to argue with this woman.

It could only raise its head and look at the official road behind the convoy, while flicking its tail to signal them to look in that direction.

Su Yanji and the others turned around and looked in that direction.

In the distance, dust rose as a large carriage swayed and wobbled towards them.

The driver was a bald young monk. His arm, gripping the reins, was unnaturally taut. Despite the straight and wide official road, he drove the cart crookedly, swaying left and right, as if it were about to tip into the roadside ditch at any moment.

Zhu Ya squinted at it for a moment, then burst out laughing: "President, the coachman of this carriage is a young monk, but his driving skills are too inexperienced."

As they spoke, the carriage drew ever closer.

The spirit also saw Qi Ji and the convoy ahead, and immediately felt as if he had seen a savior, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Lord White Deer! Please help this humble monk, I can't stop the carriage!"

"You monk are a disgrace."

Qi Ji felt a little disgusted, but still let out a deer cry, and at the same time, a faint aura of a spirit beast spread out.

The four horses pulling the cart shuddered, their restless gait immediately halting in unison, coming to a steady stop by the roadside, not daring to snort even once.

The young monk Xu Ling let out a long sigh of relief, scrambled down from the carriage, rubbed his aching arms, and glared resentfully at Qi Ji.

Those eyes clearly said: How could you just run away like that, leaving me to suffer all this alone.

Su Yanji looked at Xu Ling with a puzzled expression, then at the tightly closed carriage, not understanding why Bai Lu had brought a little monk and a carriage.

"Yo~"

Qi Ji called out to Xu Ling and nodded its tail in Su Yanji's direction.

The clever spirit immediately understood and realized that this was the foster care that Qi Ji had arranged for these children.

A dozen or so unusual government vehicles, clearly belonging to the wealthy and powerful.

Xu Ling quickly stepped forward, performed a Buddhist salute to Su Yanji, and recounted the events in rapid succession: "Benefactor, Lord Bai Lu and I recently encountered human traffickers in the mountains, and then..."

Xu Ling told Su Yanji the general story, including their upcoming trip to the human traffickers' branch, Black Stone Fortress. The message was clear: they hoped Su Yanji could temporarily take in the children.

"Human traffickers...?"

Su Yanji's smile faded slightly as she turned to look at the group of timid children, her brows furrowing slightly.

The guards and men in the convoy started talking amongst themselves, some sighing as they looked at the child with pity.

Some people cursed this human trafficker as utterly depraved and deserving of death.

Some kind-hearted people even said directly, "President, please just agree! Consider it an act of kindness!"

"What's all the fuss about? I didn't say I wouldn't agree."

Su Yanji glanced at the crowd indifferently, and the crowd immediately fell silent.

She looked at Qi Ji again, her eyes filled with the shrewdness typical of a businessman.

"Lord Bailu, taking in these children, providing them with food and lodging, and finding ways to send those whose parents are still alive back home, and finding suitable places for those whose parents are not, are not difficult matters. But I, Su Yanji, am a businessman and never do business without capital."

She held up one finger, indicating a small shape.

"As payment for your help, I want some of your blood. Not much, just enough to fill a three-inch-tall vial, how about that?"

"I want my blood..."

Qi Ji's golden deer-like eyes flashed, and a faint aura of power emanated from him, causing the air to seem to freeze slightly. The surrounding members of the chamber of commerce immediately tensed up.

"Oh no, I'm feeling a bit tense. Is the spirit beast white deer angry?"

"Isn't the president's request a bit excessive? The blood of a spirit beast is priceless."

"Shut up, we'll just watch quietly."

Qi Ji looked at Su Yanji and thought to himself that this woman had a lot of nerve, daring to make such a request.

A mere drop of blood was nothing to him, but Qi Ji wasn't stupid. He knew that now that he was a spirit beast, especially with the [Breath of Life] skill, every drop of his blood contained pure life force, making it no less valuable than those rare flowers and herbs, and perhaps even more precious.

As expected of the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Su Yanji immediately picked out the most valuable item.

Seeing Qi Ji remain silent and his expression still somewhat off, Su Yanji calmly added with a smile, "Of course, I won't let you suffer any losses. Besides helping you settle these children, I'll also give you an extra precious medicinal herb. How about that?"

( σ_σ)

The oppressive aura in Qi Ji's eyes vanished instantly.

"A precious medicinal herb, this..."

Qi Ji subconsciously made a swallowing motion.

Thinking back to how I stole the other person's precious medicine and damaged their car, a little blood is nothing, so I'll just consider it compensation.

"Yo~"

Qi Jilu nodded lightly, decisively indicating his agreement.

Xu Ling, who was watching from the side, was stunned and muttered to himself while touching his bald head.

"Strange, just now Lord White Deer was so imposing, exuding the majesty of a spirit beast, how did he change so suddenly?"

The young monk Xuling felt that Qi Ji's imposing manner had seemed to have diminished slightly.

Once the deal was settled, the convoy set off again and entered the town.

A member of the Wan Hua Merchant Guild helped Xu Ling drive the carriage and follow behind the procession, for which Xu Ling was extremely grateful and repeatedly said "thank you, thank you."

Qi Ji followed them into the city gate, but unlike the Wan Hua Merchant Guild's carriage, the streets immediately became agitated as soon as Qi Ji entered the city.

Passersby stopped and pointed at each other.

"My God! What kind of deer is that? It's huge!"

"Pure white all over, with gleaming antlers...it looks extraordinary!"

Those with broad knowledge stared at Qi Ji intently, then their eyes widened in shock, and they exclaimed in disbelief, "A spirit beast! My God, this is the eleventh spirit beast in the world, a white deer!"

That shout caused an uproar throughout the entire street.

The crowd gathered around, but dared not get too close, so they watched from a distance, marveling at the sight.

Some people even noticed Bai Lu walking alongside the Wan Hua Merchant Guild's caravan, and their jaws dropped in astonishment: "Am I seeing things? Bai Lu is walking with the Wan Hua Merchant Guild? Could it be... that the Wan Hua Merchant Guild has tamed the spirit beasts?"

Qi Ji paid no attention to the surrounding discussions.

In his eyes, this group of people was no different from the roadside grass and trees; no matter how much they talked, it wouldn't hurt him in the slightest. On the contrary, the Wanhua Merchant Guild...

Qi Ji glanced at the magnificent cloud-carriage at the very front.

He is powerful and fearless, but his spirit beast swaggered into the city with the Wanhua Merchant Guild. In the future, there will only be more and more people eyeing the Wanhua Merchant Guild. The one who should really be worried is Su Yanji.

Inside the cloud-carriage, Zhu Ya was pouring tea for Su Yanji, her face full of confusion: "President, why don't we just collect the blood and get things done outside the city? Leading the white deer through the city would be too conspicuous."

Su Yanji picked up her teacup, took a sip, and smiled knowingly: "It's all about attracting attention."

"If we trade secretly outside the city, who will know that we really have the blood of a spirit beast? It's just empty talk, and not many people will believe it if we say it out loud. But now, everyone in the city has seen the white deer walking with our Wanhua Merchant Guild. When we release the news later that the guild has treasured the blood of a spirit beast, it will be convincing."

She tapped her fingertips lightly on the edge of the table, calculating everything clearly.

"Once we return to Cangliang Kingdom, I will hold a treasure auction and use this bottle of spirit beast white deer blood as the final item. At that time, our Wanhua Merchant Guild's reputation will not only be firmly established in Cangliang Kingdom, but will also rise even higher."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ya's eyes lit up: "So that's how it is, President, you're so good at calculating!"

"Not just this."

Su Yanji put down her teacup and looked at the snow-white figure outside the car window.

"I also plan to bring people and personally accompany them to the human traffickers' branch, Black Stone Fortress. I want to record everything that happens. Once the matter is settled, I'll have the newspaper publish a report saying that the Wanhua Chamber of Commerce, together with the spirit beast White Deer, has jointly destroyed the human traffickers' den and rescued the children."

Zhu Ya was stunned, and exclaimed sincerely, "President, your plan is amazing... This time, our chamber of commerce will not only make money, but its reputation will also spread throughout the world!"