The legend begins with becoming a white deer.

"This aura is..."

The woman in black had a sudden thought. Her perception was extremely strong, and with a little effort, she could discern the vast and powerful aura emanating from these thick tree roots, completely different from the aura of human martial artists.

This is the aura of a spirit beast!

The problem is, this is not any of the spirit beasts she knows.

But the woman in black was certain she wasn't mistaken.

"What's going on? I've never sensed this unfamiliar aura of a spirit beast before. Why is there a spirit beast here?"

The woman in black was puzzled.

But seeing more and more thick tree roots crashing into the stone walls one after another, with rubble falling down, and the entire underground palace at risk of collapsing at any moment, she dared not delay any longer. Carrying the two children, she lightly touched the ground with her toes and, like a wisp of smoke, sped towards the exit of the underground palace.

"Oh no! That woman is trying to run away! Stop her!" Duan Chi shouted angrily.

He and the wicked monk leaped up at the same time, trying to intercept him.

Before they could finish speaking, a tree root a meter thick swept across them, whistling through the air, and struck them squarely in the chest.

"Pfft—"

Duan Chi flew out like a rag doll, crashing heavily into the stone wall. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his internal organs seemed to have shifted.

The fierce monk was also sent flying backward by the blow, and he almost dropped the iron rod.

He slammed his back against the stone pillar, but thanks to his fat body and profound skill, he was unharmed.

But the wicked monk's expression was very unnatural. He looked at the wildly growing tree roots that pierced through the rock layers, and the fear on his face grew stronger. He kept muttering, "There's no mistake, it's it... But how is this possible... How could it have found this place..."

"Lord Fierce Monk?"

Duan Chi clutched his chest and struggled to his feet, both surprised and suspicious: "What are you talking about? Do you perhaps know what this is?"

"What?! A spirit beast, the white deer?! How could it possibly be here?!"

Duan Chi was stunned, completely bewildered as to why a spirit beast would appear here. Was there something about Black Stone Fortress that attracted it?

... ... ...

On the ground, Blackstone Fortress had already changed its appearance.

Buildings either collapsed with a roar or were torn to pieces by the thick tree roots that emerged from the ground.

Countless trees sprouted from the cracks in the rocks at a visible speed, their branches and leaves flourishing, like a giant hand slowly peeling away the outer shell of the entire mountain.

"Boom boom boom boom~~~~"

The earth shook violently, rocks tumbled down, and dust filled the sky.

Su Yanji and her group had just sneaked into the backyard when they were trapped in place by the sudden tremor.

Her five guards protected her in the middle, wielding their swords to cleave away the flying pebbles, their figures constantly shifting and dodging.

The ethereal spirit crouched behind a crumbling wall, its bald head covered in stone chips and dust, and was shaken from the impact.

He stared at the giant trees that had burst from the ground in the distance, speechless: "What's wrong with Lord White Deer? Is he... enraged? That's terrifying..."

Su Yanji pursed her lips, her expression not looking good.

She had just tried calling out twice, hoping that Qi Ji would restrain himself and not cause too much of a commotion, thus ruining the rescue.

But Qi Ji seemed to be completely deaf to the outside world. His whole mind and body were immersed in some kind of instinctive emotion. He single-mindedly manipulated the trees to drill into the mountain. All the rocks, buildings and foundations that blocked his way were broken through by him.

The plans are all messed up.

But now, Su Yanji can only grit her teeth and bear it.

"Don't just stand there! Now that things have come to this, let's follow the direction of the tree roots. Wherever the roots go, that's where we'll go!"

At this moment, Qi Ji was completely oblivious to the sounds of people and buildings collapsing outside.

The deathly stillness that repelled him grew clearer and stronger, like a light in the darkness, clearly guiding his way.

Deep inside the mountain, in that huge hollowed-out space.

He manipulated countless tree roots, like countless probes, to continuously penetrate and expand along the cracks in the rock strata.

Hard rocks, in the face of vibrant life force, are like soft soil, constantly being crushed and pushed aside.

Finally, a loud "boom" resounded.

A huge gap was torn open in the top of the underground palace, and rubble fell down with a clatter.

"Yo~~"

Qi Ji let out a long, drawn-out deer cry, then leaped down through the gap.

Almost at the same moment Qi Ji jumped into the underground palace, the woman in black, carrying two children, darted out from a hidden exit on the other side.

She glanced at the white figure that flashed down in the distance, and a look of understanding immediately flashed in her eyes.

"The white deer, so that's it, it's the one."

Although the woman in black did not often travel in the martial arts world, she would occasionally learn about all sorts of strange and unusual people and events. With the advent of information dissemination tools like "Chronicles of the Kingdoms," it became even more convenient for her to learn about world affairs.

She was aware of the recent news about the appearance of the eleventh spirit beast in the world.

However, what the woman in black couldn't understand was why this newly born spirit beast, the white deer, would suddenly barge into the human traffickers' hideout.

Normally, she would definitely be interested in interacting with him.

But now, after looking down at the two terrified children in her arms, whose bodies were showing signs of petrification, the woman in black quickly suppressed her doubts.

"It's better to avoid trouble. We must take them back quickly and suppress the petrification disease in their bodies."

The woman in black shook her head, and with a swift movement, she used the cover of night and chaos to flee towards the outside of Blackstone Fortress.

Qi Ji landed in the underground palace, his four hooves landing steadily.

The air was filled with a deathly, decaying aura that he could instantly perceive. Yes, it was no longer a fluctuation, but an aura that could be clearly felt.

"This is it, the source of this feeling that I hate and reject is right here."

With its golden deer eyes scanning the surroundings, Qi Ji identified the direction with the strongest fluctuations and charged forward on all fours.

In the long underground palace corridor, a dozen or so of Blackstone Fortress's men had just run out of a stone chamber when they were unlucky enough to run into a snow-white giant deer.

Everyone was taken aback.

"A deer? Where did this come from? Has the organization decided to capture animals now?"

"What a huge white deer! This is no ordinary animal."

"You idiots, you morons!"

Someone who recognized Qi Ji's true identity was filled with terror and tried to turn and run away.

But it was too late; Qi Ji had already crashed into it.

Like a bowling ball hitting a pin, more than a dozen people were sent flying backward before they could even scream, crashing into the stone wall and breaking their bones, dying on the spot.

These people all carried a faint, desolate, and decaying aura that he loathed.

Only a thin, small man standing at the very back was not bumped because of his position.

He was clutching a jade bottle tightly in his hand, terrified out of his wits, and turned to burrow into the stone chamber next to him.

Qi Ji's gaze fell on the jade bottle.

"That's it."

Qi Ji's heart stirred.

The scent emanating from the bottle was the very scent that he felt utterly repulsed and disgusted by, a scent that his body instinctively compelled him to eradicate.

He let out a low growl and strode after him.

He smashed the door of the stone chamber.

"Huh? What's this?!"

The sight inside made Qi Ji abruptly stop in his tracks, a hint of shock flashing in his golden eyes.

In the large stone chamber, there were more than a dozen wooden beds, and a child was tied to each bed.

Without a doubt, these children were kidnapped by human traffickers.

The older one was in his early teens, and the younger one was only three or four years old.

Without exception, they all exhibited bizarre petrification symptoms.

It's not just a simple case of physical stiffness, but a genuine phenomenon of flesh and blood transforming into stone.

Some children had half of their faces turned into bluish-gray stone.

Some children's entire arms are petrified and stiff, and they can't move a single finger.

Some children had their chests mostly petrified, with the remaining flesh twitching slightly, each twitch accompanied by extreme pain.

The air was thick with a strong sense of death and decay, mixed with the stench of children's blood and a feeling of despair.

Qi Ji was stunned for a moment.

I never expected such a scene to occur here.

The source of that intense aversion and rejection he felt was emanating continuously from these children.

"These children, their bodies..."

Qi Ji looked at the petrified parts of the children's bodies.

He could clearly sense the deathly, decaying aura above, but strangely, at close range, he could also sense a very strange vitality within that aura.

This energy seemed to be both strengthening the children's vitality and simultaneously consuming their bodies, turning them into stone.

Seeing this, Qi Ji's impulse to completely erase it gradually faded, and calm rationality returned.

"This isn't poisoning, nor is it illness; this phenomenon... this is human experimentation! This is experimenting on living children!"

Qi Ji walked forward step by step. On the bed closest to him, a little boy of about five years old was tied up.

His forearm, left cheek, and entire right leg had turned to cold stone.

The remaining half of his face was filled with numb pain, and tears streamed down the unpetrified side, soaking the pillow.

He seemed to have almost no strength left to cry; his lips moved slightly, and he whispered weakly:

"Father... Mother..."

"It hurts so much..."

"Hungry……"

With each soft breath, the petrified edges of his face were slowly spreading into his flesh at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

It wasn't just him.

Throughout the entire stone chamber, the petrification of all the children's bodies was silently expanding.

With each inch the wound expands, the children's bodies twitch, enduring excruciating pain, as if being slowly sliced ​​to death...