The legend begins with becoming a white deer.

The wind whistled through the woods, and the branches trembled wildly as the figure rushed past.

Three or four江湖 (jianghu) men, their toes barely touching the ground, ran along the rugged mountain path, their bodies leaning forward, their robes fluttering in the wind.

Someone, panting heavily, urged, "Hurry up! That firework that shot into the sky was definitely a warning signal. Someone must have encountered the auspicious white deer. We're not too far away. If we hurry over, we might be able to get something out of it. If we're too late, we might not even be able to touch a deer's fur."

Before he finished speaking, a blinding flame suddenly blazed up in the distance.

The second firework exploded below the clouds, nearly a mile away from the first one.

The group paused, some looking puzzled. "Hey, another one? Did two groups run into Bai Lu?"

The next instant, one of the quick-witted individuals realized what was happening, his expression changing slightly as he said, "No, that's a white deer running. The person who gave the signal might be chasing after it, which is why the fireworks are off-center. Quick, let's go to the location of the second firework!"

Upon hearing this, the group no longer hesitated. They gathered their strength and moved their feet rapidly, increasing their speed by another three points.

Within a radius of several kilometers in the mountains and forests, countless figures were rushing towards the direction where the second firework rose. Regardless of their original sects or whether they knew each other, they all tacitly recognized the same goal—the auspicious white deer. Whoever caught it first would keep it.

In the following minutes, it was unclear which side's men, in their haste, forgot to take cover and shouted a loud voice from somewhere in the forest, the sound like rolling thunder cutting through the trees.

"The auspicious white deer is here, come quickly!"

The sound traveled extremely far, and was heard by many people in even more distant locations.

For example, Murong Jing, who was leading his men in a search in the eastern part of the mountains, suddenly stopped, turned his head and looked into the distance.

"Was that someone's voice over there just now? I think I heard someone shout that a white deer has been spotted?"

Murong Jing looked at the others, and sure enough, several people nodded to indicate that they had heard it as well.

"It seems that's really true."

"Your Highness, I heard it too."

"Me too"

Seeing this, Murong Jing no longer hesitated and decisively rushed towards the direction of the sound.

"In that case, let's change course and go that way."

"Yes"

The group immediately obeyed, changed direction, and darted into the dense forest like arrows.

They had only rushed forward for about a kilometer when another dazzling firework rose into the sky ahead.

A glint flashed in Murong Jing's eyes, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly: "It seems that I was right after all. Someone must have discovered that auspicious white deer. Haha, good, this saves us a lot of trouble. Hurry up, that white deer is mine, and I can't let anyone else take it away."

With that, he waved his hand, and everyone gathered their strength and sped toward the signal.

... ... ...

On a towering ancient tree.

"boom--"

"Pfft!"

A dull thud accompanied by the sound of bones cracking rang out, and a figure flew horizontally from a tree trunk several meters high, crashing heavily into the mud below, sliding half a meter away before coming to a stop.

The man's chest caved in deeply, blood gushed from his mouth, and he fainted on the spot.

The five martial arts practitioners standing under the tree all looked up, their faces showing a mixture of excitement and shock.

On a horizontal branch of a tree trunk, a pure white deer with its hooves at rest, its eyes filled with melancholy.

"Where did this sharp-eyed jerk come from? What bad luck!"

Qi Ji felt utterly helpless.

He broke through several groups of martial arts practitioners' blockades. Because these martial arts practitioners kept sending signals into the sky, exposing his position, Qi Ji was worried that things would not go well. He had a flash of inspiration and decided to hide in a big tree, using the branches and leaves to cover himself and avoid their sharp edge for a while, and then change direction to break through after catching his breath.

But who knew that he had only been hiding for a short while when he encountered six humans. Among these six was a guy with excellent eyesight who immediately looked up and accurately located his hiding place.

However, whether this person was bold or foolish, he leaped up the tree without saying a word and reached out to grab the deer's antlers.

Qi Ji was already annoyed by being chased, so he immediately kicked the man, sending him flying off the tree.

"My goodness... this white deer actually hid in a tree?! How did it get up there?" someone exclaimed in disbelief.

Deer shouldn't be able to climb trees.

Someone swallowed hard, glanced at their unconscious companion, then looked up at Qi Ji's powerful deer legs, feeling apprehensive and not daring to move rashly.

But one person gritted his teeth, raised his hand and took out the crossbow from his back, aiming the arrow at the figure in the tree.

Before he could pull the trigger, Qi Ji bent his limbs slightly, pushed off a horizontal branch, landed gracefully, and then turned and ran into the depths of the dense forest.

"Chase!"

The five men snapped out of their daze and immediately gave chase, while they all tacitly chose to abandon their unconscious companion.

However, the speed difference between them was too great, and the distance between them was visibly widening. Just when they were about to be completely left behind, two groups of people suddenly emerged from the woods in front of Qi Ji, a large group of more than thirty people, blocking the only way for Qi Ji to pass.

The five people chasing behind stopped in their tracks, and one of them exclaimed in surprise, "Oh no, so many people have come! Are they trying to steal our deer?"

His companion, however, suddenly brightened up and pulled him aside, saying, "What's the panic? This white deer is ferocious. It's a good thing these people have appeared. Otherwise, the five of us wouldn't be able to take down this auspicious beast. Let them fight it out first, and we'll wait until they're both exhausted before we strike and take advantage of the situation."

"Hey, Lao He, you're right."

"Okay, let's do it this way."

As the two groups of people in front saw the white deer rushing towards them, a commotion broke out in the crowd, and some people immediately took out signal flares.

"call out"

"Panglong"

Another burst of fire shot into the sky.

Qi Ji didn't have time to complain about how these people had signal fireworks and weren't afraid of them setting them off randomly in the mountains and causing a fire.

As he looked at the many figures appearing ahead, his heart sank. Instinctively, he wanted to activate [All Trees Pay Homage] to use the power of the surrounding trees to eliminate these people all at once.

But he suppressed the thought as soon as it arose.

"No, while the 'All Trees Paying Homage' technique is powerful, it consumes a lot of stamina. There must already be many people gathered in this area. If I encounter more humans or a tough opponent later, it won't be safe if I don't have enough stamina. To be on the safe side, I should avoid using the 'All Trees Paying Homage' technique for now. There are only thirty-odd people, it's nothing."

In the blink of an eye, Qi Ji's running momentum did not decrease; instead, he suddenly accelerated.

When he was about ten meters away from the crowd, Qi Ji stomped his forelegs hard on the ground, and his body leaped into the air, soaring directly over the heads of the crowd.

The vertical height of this jump was more than ten meters, which shocked the crowd below, who all looked up in horror. By the time they reacted and turned to chase after him, Qi Ji had already run far away.

"Good heavens, this white deer's jumping ability is outrageous! Don't just stand there, chase after it!"

The crowd gritted their teeth and chased after them with fierce determination.

However, like the previous five, they were not as fast as Qi Ji. Their only advantage was their numbers, but unfortunately, they were all behind Qi Ji.

But there are many more people ahead of Qi Ji.

After running for a little over two minutes, a large group of people blocked Qi Ji's path through the woods.

There were about three hundred people in total, led by Chi Lan, a female general from the Crimson Kingdom. She swung her large scythe with great force, and the sharp shockwave bent the grass in front of her, showing the imposing aura of a fierce general on the battlefield.

"After searching for so many days, I have finally seen my target with my own eyes. It is indeed a handsome white deer, with the appearance of an auspicious beast. Today I will capture you and present you to the Crimson King."

Chi Lan saw the white deer running towards him and grinned, his voice booming like a bell.

Before she could even finish speaking, Qi Ji, without pausing for a second, immediately turned his head and charged towards Lin Zi, without even glancing at her.

Chi Lan's smile froze instantly, followed by a fit of rage.

"stop!"

She grabbed her sickle and gave chase, yelling as she ran, "White Deer, stop right there! If you've got the guts, fight me! What kind of skill is running away?"

The Red Kingdom soldiers following behind her twitched at the corners of their mouths and looked at each other in bewilderment.

The general's words are...only a fool would stop the auspicious beast.