A Disturbance

Shen Huo woke up to a feeling that his body has been refreshed and rejuvenated, as he saw a blinking notification screen in the corners of his eye.

▪You have (1) unread message.▪

'Right, it seems to me that something happened to me whilst I was unconscious.' Shen Huo thought to himself, 'I wondered what that may be.'

Shen Huo then presses on the notification screen, which then opens up his message box.

▪Congratulations, you have broken through to the next spirit rank. You are now spirit rank 4.▪

It shows the contents of his message box, displaying his list of achievements and actions that were recognised by the System, almost like a system log.

'It seems to me that I've increased my spirit essence level by one whilst I was asleep. What a fortunate breakthrough.' Shen Huo thought to himself, as his body felt refreshed, having had recovered from stress and exhaustion overnight.

Shen Huo got up to do some basic excercises and morning stretches to start the day, when he suddenly heard a loud ruckus going on outside. It immediately alerted him of the dangers outside.

"Look what do we have here, brother Wang." Shen Huo heard a hoarse man voice, the words that he said next immediately made him become cautious of that said individual. "Maybe we can make a few couple of coins by selling this child on the black market."

"Let go of me. Waaagh!" Hou Yun'er cried, as the big burly man single handedly held her up, by the wrist. 

She called out to her brother, "Big brother! Help me!" Hou Yun'er was in tears as she helplessly called out to her big brother Hou Xiao Ming.

"Let go of my sister!" Hou Xiao Ming retaliated, shouting at the top of his lungs, as he aggressively charged towards the man that is holding his sister hostage. 

However, the burly man easily swept Hou Xiao Ming away, with a single wave of his hand. He sended Hou Xiao Ming flying backwards, hitting the wall hardly, Hou Xiao Ming injured himself. 

"Ugh." Hou Xiao Ming gasped, whilst breathing heavily. The air knocked out of him.

"Just forget about it, Li Shi. The kid's is not even worth shit. At best, just a couple of copper spirit coins." The man who is named Wang Quay spoke out, he continues the conversation. "The price on a slave increases depending on what kind of spirit essence the kid has and what level of spirit rank the kid is at."

"However, this kid has no spirit power. I feel no presence of a spirit essence or spirit mark on her body. So she is only a normal person I presumes." Wang Quay lectured Li Shi on the slave prices on the black market.

"I see... I understand now, brother Wang. " Li Shi said so slightly dissappointed.

Whilst, Hou Xiao Ming was laying on the ground, he weakly begged the two to spare his sister. "Please don't take my sister away. She is the only one I have left in this world." Hou Xiao Ming broke down into tears, as he felt despair for the first time.

The Wang Quay looked down upon him from above. He only said one word 'pathetic', which made Hou Xiao Ming lose all sorry of hope.

"Tch!" Shen Huo from the sidelines, loudly clicked his tongue, watching it all happened unraveling right before his very eyes.

"Unhand the girl, right this instance!" Shen Huo shouted in frustration, clearly angered by it all.

"Oh, why should we." Wang Quay smiled evilishly, revealing a slight grin, as he then looks on over in his direction.

"Then I will make you let go of her." Shen Huo said so adamantly, as he then releases his elemental fire spirit essence.

A reddish orange spirit mark then appears on top of his forehead, whilst spontaneously red spirit flames then spew out from both of his hands.

The individual that onced looked down upon Shen Huo and the others, now lost the pathetic smile plastered on his face.

He then became extremely nervous, wreck with anxiety, as he averted direct eye contact with Shen Huo. "Are you a spirit master?" He nervously asked Shen Huo a question, enquiry on his identity. 

"You could say that." Shen Huo bluffs, as he then increases the size of the spirit flames he control.

Unlike the typical normal spirit essence, where the spirit essence is completely useless until it gains its first spirit ring. 

A spirit skill or ability is a manifestion of the spirit ring that the user absorbed, after killing a specified spirit beast. The higher the age of the spirit ring, the more powerful the spirit skill you will obtained from the given spirit ring.

However, Shen Huo's elemental fire spirit essence is completely different, as it has no solid tangible form or a physical body, thereby makes his spirit essence more versatile.

Shen Huo can manipulate the summoned elemental spirit fire at will, almost like it was an extension of his own body.

The strength of the elemental spirit fire grows as Shen Huo increases in his spirit essence rank.

With each time, when Shen Huo absorbed a spirit ring at the tenth spirit level, his elemental fire spirit essence will evolve taking in the shape, attribute, or form of the spirit ring he absorbed from a spirit beast.

"Should beat up this kid as well?" The burly man spoke anxiously to the man right beside him, his grip on Hou Yue'er's wrist.

"No, I will handle this matter myself. So you stay put over there and don't get involved." Wang Quay spoke with a sense of seriousness in his tone, as he then silenced his companion Li Shi.

"Boy, how about this? If you managed to do a favor for me, I will let these two kids off scot free and unhurt." The man who is named Wang Quay said, "Look on the bright side, if you managed to complete this task. You will not only get a job, but also a sort of stable income as well for food expenses."