First Meal

"Well, your reasoning does sort of made sense." Ao Si Ka then came to a reasonable understanding over the situation.

'Afterall, I was nearly close at death's doors. If it weren't for my strong spirit and will power, I would have surely died in my sleep with dilapidated lung.' Ao Si Ka thought to himself.

Cough! Cough!

The city guard coughs a few times to cleared his throat.

He then decided to immediately change the subject, as the matter is becoming a little too dark for his liking. He rather have it easy and lay back during his break time and off duty hours.

"Kid. You have rested for quite some time now." The city guard said.

"You must be feeling pretty hungry right about now, am I right?" The city guard asked Ao Si Ka whether he is hungry or not.

Ao Si Ka lightly looks down at his stomach, as he placed his right hand on his belly. He could feel that his stomach is empty, but it wasn't rumbling as loud as he had thought.

'If I'm ever hungry, couldn't I just eat my summoned sausages in order to conserve my food expenses.' Ao Si Ka thought as he lightly shrugs his shoulders.

"Meh... So how long have I been out for?" Ao Si Ka then asked the city guard with a look of curiosity.

He then looks outside the window, seeing that it was still daylight. So it must be the next day right.

However, Ao Si Ka was still quite unsure, he didn't know how long he was out for. It could be a night. The next day or the day after that, maybe a week. That is why he is asking the city guard right now, as he wanted answers.

"Let me think?" The city guard got into a thinking posture.

Suddenly remembering something, the city guard hammers his right hand, with his left hand catching his right fist, in order to exemplified his eccentric actions.

"You've been out for about a day and a half." The city guard answered Ao Si Ka's inquiry as truthfully as possible.

"A day and a half, huh?" Ao Si Ka repeated whatever he heard, as he took his time to process things.

"So do you need something, boy? You must be pretty hungry and thirsty for not haven't eaten anything for days, right?" The city guard insisted on getting the boy something to eat.

"I guess you're right." Ao Si Ka then complied.

'Alright.'

Seeing this, the city guard was happy to find an excuse to leave the room, as being inside the room with the boy is starting to make him having difficulty breathing. With all the tension and all.

The city guard then eagerly left the room, leaving Ao Si Ka all alone by himself, to get a breather and some fresh air.

Later, within his hands, he brought back some food for Ao Si Ka to eat.

It was a piece of hard bread & chicken and mushroom soup. There was no chicken or any meat within the soup, just wild mushrooms and vegetables. The raw cooked chicken was used to make the soup base, adding some flavour to the soup water.

The vegetables and wild mushroom were added to the soup base to make the chicken soup taste alot better. Instead of it being just plain watery chicken soup.

Ao Si Ka then takes a sip of the chicken and mushroom soup. 'The soup is cold.' Ao Si Ka thought, being slightly dissatisfied.

But, nevertheless, he was contented with at least getting something for free. So he had no right to judge someone who is doing something good out of his own generosity.

And besides, in these day and age, getting access to firewood and a heat source, can be said to be a luxury. As you have to go into the deep woods and chopped down some trees with an axe.

And with an axe, you chop the wooden logs down into suitable size of fire wood for a fire place.

Unless you are fire attributed spirit master, then it's entirely different. Not everyone has the luxury to always have access to fire wood. So the common folk only use firewood whenever it is deemed neccessary, to cook food or warm the place up.

The piece of hard bread was extremely tough to bite, it even took the city guard alot of effort to break the hard bread in half.

"Do you always eat like this?" Ao Si Ka ask the city guard a question.

The city guard who was sitting beside him on a chair, near the bed he was on, "Yes... Is there something wrong with the food?" He asked with a slightly concerned look.

Ao Si Ka remains silent. His wooden spoon then drops into the half emptied bowl, it caused a slight ripples on the surface of the soup. Ao Si Ka could bare saw his reflection in the distorted rippling surface of water.

He ponders, then shakes his head. "It's nothing."

"This kid." The city guard said. 'Something is on his mind.' He thought, starring at the now quiet Ao Si Ka.

'The life of a commoner must be even more difficult than a spirit master. It's like living in the medieval era, where you could only be productive and worthwhile during the day hours.'

'If you were to come across a spirit master. Even the tiniest bit of insult or wronging him slightly could even cost you your life.' Ao Si Ka then thought back on the incident where Shen Fei Zhu nearly almost killed him.

Ao Si Ka quickly finishes off his meal in silence. Once the the bowl was empty and clean, Ao Si Ka then places the empty bowl aside.

"Do you know the direction to where I can get to Spirit Hall?" Ao Si Ka then suddenly broke the silence as he asked the city guard for some directions.

"Spirit Hall... You are asking for directions to where Spirit Hall is, boy." The city guard said, "You can find the Spirit Hall branch building in the north-western regions of our city. Although it is slightly a bit runned down, the Spirit Hall branch building is much larger and even fancier than most of the buildings in our city."

"So it is not even that hard or difficult to make out the Spirit Hall branch building at a distance." The city guard commented.

"You can take the Gouwu route from here to reach the inner regions of the city. You can easily find the Spirit Hall branch building there." The city guard then gave Ao Si Ka some directions on the path leading to Spirit Hall branch building.

"What is your reasoning of wanting to go to Spirit Hall?" The city guard then asked Ao Si Ka a question, inquiry on his reasoning and objectives for heading to Spirit Hall.

Ao Si Ka found no reason to lie, so he told the truth to the city guard. "My objective for heading to Spirit Hall is to get my spirit essence level appraised, thereby getting my spirit essence registered and officially become a legitimate spirit master."

"In addition, to getting my spirit essence level registered. I will be able to collect a monthly stipend from Spirit Hall, which should covered my food expenses and living expenses for a while." Ao Si Ka honestly spoke the truth, which certainly surprises the city guard.

"To have your spirit essence level appraisal means that you already become a spirit master, to officially become a spirit master you must first obtained your first spirit ring. It's can't be that you..." The city guard said so in disbelief, as he then questions whether what he heard was true.

Ao Si Ka just plainly smile as he lift his right hand up, showcasing the purplish pink spirit mark on his back palm.

As a hundred years old yellow spirit ring then appears around him, which greatly surprises the city guard. The suppressive spiritual aura of a hundred years old spirit beast then assaults the city guard, causing his legs to go limp, as the city guard then falls on his bottom.

"A yellow spirit ring. A yellow spirit ring is a hundred years old spirit beast, that means that you managed to kill and deal a final blow to a hundred years old spirit beast." The city guard shouted out in great alarm, as he points at the yellow spirit ring that appeared surrounding Ao Si Ka.

"That's right." Ao Si Ka said so with a childish smirk plastered on his face, as he then jumps off from the bed.

He walked pass the startled city guard, whilst leaving him in awe.

He then said his final words to him. "I be going now, and also thank you for the meal. I appreciate it." Ao Si Ka then left the city guard all alone to himself within the guard post rooms, as he made his way to the exit.