The legend begins with becoming a white deer.

Qi Ji stood in the square, looking up at the black sculpture on the roof of the palace, his brows furrowed slightly, feeling a little displeased.

He had just scaled the palace wall and entered the royal palace grounds, and before he could even think about how to find Yuan Yao's location, the giant black eagle swooped down from the sky like a gust of wind, attacking him with its claws without a word, showing absolutely no manners.

Qi Ji could tell that this was no ordinary bird; standing three meters tall, it was a true raptor of the beast level.

With its sharp wings, powerful claws, and natural aerial dominance, it is somewhat troublesome.

While they may be wary, they are far from being afraid.

"Yo—"

Qi Ji raised his head and let out a low, deer-like cry, his tone steady yet carrying an undeniable force.

It didn't mean anything by it, it was just to tell this big black eagle: I'm not leaving, so mind your own business and go somewhere cool and stay there.

The black eagle stood on the roof ridge, its golden eyes sharp as knives. It understood the rejection in the deer's cry and was immediately aroused by its ferocity.

"Hey!"

It let out a sharp cry, its wings flapped violently, a gale arose, and its massive body swooped down again like a black lightning bolt.

This time, the black eagle learned its lesson and avoided Qi Ji's hardest antlers. It swept its wingtips diagonally and aimed its sharp claws straight at Qi Ji's nape and back.

"You wish!"

Qi Ji reacted extremely quickly, turning around abruptly with all four hooves pushing off the ground, his antlers carrying a strong wind as he precisely met the attack.

"clang--"

A crisp, metallic clang resounded across the square.

Two figures, one in black and one in white, collided repeatedly in the empty palace courtyard, one above and one below.

Taking advantage of its flight, the black eagle swooped down, retreated, swooped down again, and retreated once more, each move ruthless but never lingering in battle.

Qi Ji defended himself so tightly that there was no gap in his defense. He used his antlers, hooves, and even his shoulders and back to deflect the force of the attack. No matter how fierce the opponent's attack was, he could not gain any advantage.

"clang!"

It was another head-on collision. Qi Ji strained his neck, and the antlers thrust upwards fiercely. The black eagle took advantage of the situation, flapping its wings and soaring high in the air. It circled twice in the air, widening the distance again, and stared down at him from above.

"Yo"

Qi Ji shook his head and let out a short deer cry into the air, his tone full of disdain (｀Д´*).

The meaning is clear: If you're so capable, come down and fight one-on-one. What kind of skill is it to just hit once and run away?

Qi Ji hated this kind of hit-and-run tactic the most.

Birds have too much of an advantage in the air; they can attack and retreat at will. He has all the strength, but he can't just jump into the sky to chase them.

Although wild animals do not speak, they can understand each other's thoughts by their tone of voice, breath and movements.

The black eagle, already enraged by its repeated failures, took the deer's cry as a blatant provocation from Qi Ji. It roared angrily, flapped its wings to create a fierce wind, and swooped down at an even faster speed.

Upon seeing this, Qi Ji not only did not greet him, but instead turned and ran away.

It wasn't that he was afraid, but Qi Ji knew that continuing like this was pointless.

As his gaze swept across the depths of the palace, Qi Ji concluded that such a royal garden could not possibly be without trees. Once he entered the woods and found trees to use, he would have plenty of ways to rub this annoying eagle to the ground.

"——"

The wind howled behind them, and the black eagle arrived in an instant.

Without turning his head, Qi Ji relied solely on his hearing to determine his location and suddenly shifted to the side.

"laugh--"

The sharp claws grazed Qi Ji's side and gripped the bluestone slab tightly.

"Peng"

Stone fragments flew everywhere, and the entire paving stone was torn apart, with stone chips flying all over the place.

If this claw were to firmly grasp flesh and blood, it would tear off a large chunk of flesh on the spot.

Without pausing, Qi Ji exerted force with all four limbs the moment he landed, twisted his body in the opposite direction, and used the force of pushing off the ground to leap high into the air, pouncing straight towards the back of the black eagle that had just taken off.

Her astonishing jumping ability was on full display at this moment. Her snow-white figure shot up like an arrow and closed in on the back of the black eagle in an instant.

The eagle reacted extremely quickly. Its eyes narrowed, and it suddenly spun around in mid-air, its wing sweeping across with tremendous force.

With nowhere to grab hold in mid-air, Qi Ji had no way to avoid the wing strike. At the same time, he snapped his jaws shut and precisely caught a few long feathers at the base of the eagle's wing.

"Snapped!"

Qi Ji was slapped downwards and landed steadily on the ground, spitting out a few glossy black eagle feathers.

This wing looked terrifying; if it struck an ordinary person, it would probably break their bones on the spot. But when it landed on his powerful body, it was like being whipped by a tree branch, with barely any pain.

On the contrary, the black eagle in the air looked down at its wing root, which was missing a few feathers, and angrily let out a series of sharp cries.

Having lived a life of luxury in the royal palace for decades, it had never suffered such a loss before.

To have one's feathers bitten off by a deer is an utter disgrace.

Qi Ji had no time to care whether the black eagle was angry or not. Once he identified the direction of the forest, he took off running.

"唳~"

The black eagle was thoroughly enraged and pursued relentlessly, its sharp claws and wings striking the arrogant white deer in turn, determined to teach it a lesson.

At this moment, a group of patrolling guards had already followed them through the palace corridors.

From the moment the deer and the eagle made their move in the outer palace area, the patrolling guards noticed the commotion, but everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, and no one dared to step forward to intervene.

On one side is the auspicious white deer, bestowed with a title by King Bilin himself, holding a highly esteemed position.

On the other side is Lord Xuan Diao, who has served two generations of royalty and has a distinguished military record, and is absolutely untouchable.

Both sides are precious; they can't afford to hurt either of them.

The guards could only follow at a distance, swords in hand, watching helplessly as the battle between the black and white deer eagles moved from the outer palace to the inner palace, their hearts pounding with anxiety.

"What should we do? If we go any further in, we'll be in the inner palace."

"How about... we report this to the King?"

"Someone has already gone. Let's follow them and make sure they don't damage any of the palace's items."

While the guards were pacing anxiously, Qi Ji, standing in the center of the room, suddenly had a bright idea.

At the end of the imperial road ahead, a lush pine and cypress forest came into view, its branches gnarled and twisted.

"Finally found it!"

Qi Ji suddenly accelerated and ran wildly towards the pine forest.

The black eagle behind him was already bloodthirsty. When it saw Qi Ji trying to "escape," it assumed that Qi Ji was scared. Its ferocity intensified, and it flapped its wings to the extreme, increasing its speed to its peak. With a whistling sound, it swooped down with all its might, its sharp claws aimed directly at Qi Ji's back.

Qi Ji didn't turn his head, and a golden-green light quietly shone on the deer antlers.

The power of "All Trees Pay Homage to the Source" is activated.

In an instant, Qi Ji passed through two pine and cypress trees, with the black eagle following closely behind. And in that very instant—

"boom!"

The thickest ancient pines on both sides suddenly bend their trunks, like two lurking giant pythons suddenly emerging from their caves, or like two enormous hands that appear out of nowhere, closing in from both sides with immense force.

The black eagle was diving with all its might, unable to stop in time, and crashed solidly into the "wooden cage".

The thick tree trunk wrapped around it layer by layer, tightly binding its wings and body, leaving only its head sticking out.

"Hey——!"

The black eagle let out a shriek of alarm and rage, flapping its wings desperately, but the tree trunks were incredibly tough, tightening their grip with each struggle, making it impossible to break free...