The legend begins with becoming a white deer.

The faint light of dawn pierced through the layers of branches and leaves, and the entire mountain forest shed the deep darkness of the night, with a cool and refreshing mist swirling among the trees.

In the stillness before dawn, Qi Ji had already awakened from among the deer.

"It's time to leave."

Looking at the deer herd, Qi Ji made a decision.

With small, shuffling steps, Qi Ji quietly walked up to his mother and gazed at the unremarkable sika doe for a dozen seconds.

When Qi Ji first came into this world, during her most vulnerable period, it was this creature that took care of her with tenderness and concern. Even though she didn't possess much wisdom or self-awareness, Qi Ji always remembered that vulnerable experience.

Goodbye, Mother.

With a silent farewell in his heart, Qi Ji turned and walked towards the distant woods.

When he had walked about ten meters away, a deer's cry suddenly came from behind him.

"Yo"

Qi Ji paused, only to see his mother suddenly wake up.

As it watched Qi Ji prepare to leave, it seemed to realize something and instinctively let out a deer cry towards Qi Ji.

At this time, the other sika deer also woke up.

They watched Qi Ji walk away into the distance, blinked their deer eyes, and then, led by the old doe, also called out to Qi Ji.

The voice didn't sound like it was trying to persuade someone to stay; it sounded more like it was saying goodbye.

Qi Ji's eyes widened. He had intended to leave quietly, but he never expected to see such a scene before he left.

Whether it was a coincidence or something real, Qi Ji felt a warmth in his heart at that moment. He also let out a deer call towards the herd. The next second, Qi Ji did not hesitate, turned around and leaped into the forest.

At this moment, he truly broke away from the herd and embarked on his own path.

... ... ....

As the morning sun slowly rises through the mist, its golden rays spread across the mountains and forests, gently sprinkling the earth.

After eating his fill and gaining some spiritual points, Qi Ji quickly leaped and bounded through the mountains and forests, like a spirit of a deer, leaving the mountain winds behind him.

Qi Ji galloped freely all the way until he reached the peak of a mountain, overlooking the surrounding forest.

During this time, Qi Ji had already gained a general understanding of his surroundings.

The forest he was in was more of a mountain range than a forest, except that the vegetation here was exceptionally rich.

There are two rivers on the east and west sides of the mountain range. At the foot of the eastern mountain range, there is a human town that Qi Ji had seen by chance when he was living with a herd of deer and passed by the outer edge of the mountain range.

Under normal circumstances, animals do not venture outside the mountains or come into contact with humans.

The encounter with Yuan Yao was purely accidental.

If Qi Ji had followed his previous plan, he wouldn't have intended to come into contact with humans for his own safety.

But that was my thinking before, now...

"I really need to have contact with humans now."

Qi Ji gazed towards the human towns to the east of the mountains, recalling the information he had obtained yesterday regarding the [Legendary Spirit Points].

The evolution mechanism brought by the [Legendary Spirit Points] is undoubtedly very attractive to Qi Ji. Not to mention that 1 Legendary Spirit Point can be exchanged for 100 years of lifespan, the significant transformation and rare extraordinary abilities brought by evolution alone are enough to make Qi Ji unable to refuse.

Even if he were still a sika deer, humans would still yearn for it.

Qi Ji recalled the information he had received yesterday.

"To obtain legendary spiritual points, I need to gain strong positive emotional identification from humans. Putting aside the number of people, strong emotions are easy to understand, but positive identification...?"

Qi Ji pondered the scope of positive identification.

Reverence, admiration, respect, love, cherishing, gratitude, tenderness, unwavering trust...

"That's a rather broad scope."

Qi Ji blinked his deer-like eyes. In short, he needed to interact with humans and be kind to them.

"The 1 Legendary Spirit Point I gained yesterday was probably the emotion that Yuan Yao's people felt towards me. It was probably gratitude or something like that. Well, Yuan Yao is a princess, so she'll have some loyal followers around her. The number exceeded the minimum of 10, which triggered the Legendary Spirit Point mechanism. However, this gratitude will probably only last for a short time unless they continue to be grateful to me next year and the number of them increases to 100. Otherwise, this Spirit Point is a one-time thing and cannot be obtained continuously."

"However, one time is enough. I only need 5 points of legendary spirit essence to evolve, which isn't much, so it shouldn't be difficult to do."

Qi Ji glanced towards the human towns to the east of the mountains.

Although he wanted to make contact with people in an attempt to obtain the legendary spiritual points, his memories of his previous life as a human forced him to be cautious.

Humans are intelligent animals, but that makes them very complex. Very few people are born good; most have a neutral personality, which can be good or bad. Both of these types are actually quite good.

Qi Ji's biggest worry is encountering people with inherently bad personalities.

Qi Ji believed that a person's character is predetermined at birth, and that sometimes, even when others have done nothing wrong, these inherently evil people would try to harm them.

If this is the case with deer of the same kind, one can only imagine how it is with sika deer of a different kind.

Therefore, Qi Ji had to be careful when interacting with people.

"Just in case, let's wait a few months, accumulate enough spiritual points, and strengthen my body a couple more times. That way, even if I encounter some danger, I can protect myself. Also, my deer antlers need to harden before they can become combat-ready."

Qi Ji withdrew his gaze, left the mountain peak, and returned to the forest.

For the rest of the time, Qi Ji lived alone in this mountain range.

When hungry, eat grass to accumulate spirit points; when bored, run and leap freely in the mountains and forests.

Qi Ji tried to find the spiritual herbs and precious medicines that had aroused his strong desire back then, but unfortunately he was very unlucky and never encountered them.

Qi Ji had taken the time to visit the human-made wooden house where he had first met Yuan Yao. It was completely deserted, and much of the furniture inside was covered in dust.

During this time, Qi Ji also encountered several dangers. For example, once when Qi Ji was drinking water by the river, a large brown bear spotted him and wanted to eat meat.

Faced with such a dangerous large carnivore, Qi Ji would choose to flee unless he was absolutely certain of victory.

The brown bear was very strong and its straight-line speed was not slow when it burst out, but it was still far behind Qi Ji in speed. Not to mention that speed does not equal agility. In the complex mountain forest terrain, Qi Ji easily shook off the brown bear, leaving only the bear's helpless and furious roar behind him.

... ... ...

On this day, the gray clouds pressed low over the mountaintops, and fine rain pattered down on the forest.

Qi Ji's physique was no longer afraid of this kind of weather. He strolled leisurely in the rainforest, occasionally tilting his head back to drink a few mouthfuls of rainwater.

Suddenly his deer ears twitched as he heard a scream coming from afar.

"This is the voice of humanity."

Qi Ji was a little surprised. Remembering the legendary Spirit Point, he deliberately leaped towards the direction of the sound...