The red dog glared and roared at all of them. Its voice was very loud, and its aura was majestic. Many people were scared when they heard it, including Roar. The poor dog lay on the ground and whimpered in fright.
Arthur saw all of these and narrowed his eyes in thought. "The man can stay in the air for a long time and can condense his energy into form. So he must be at the third mortal coil."
He felt that the man was at the same level as Patriarch Calcetti. But the two of them didn't feel the same at all.
The patriarch felt and appeared to be a human, but this man felt like a beast. Even before the man summoned the blood phantom, Arthur already knew that he was a beast pretending to be a human. He has a strong and heavy aura that only a giant beast should have.
He has felt this same aura from other beasts before. So even without using his eyes, he could tell that the entity who owned the aura must be a large beast.
Yet, when he laid his eyes on the man, his eyes were telling him otherwise. He trusted his senses more, so he knew that his eyes were being deceived.
So he wasn't surprised that much when the bloodhound appeared. In fact, he felt that this might just be the surface of what the man truly is.
The man put away the phantom of the bloodhound and continued on his way. He led them across a path that led to a large mountain range in front of them.
On the way there he spoke to them again. "My equals call me Daoist Bloodhound. You can't call me that because you're not my equal. I am an Elder of the outer sect, so you can call me Elder Bloodhound."
He pointed at the mountain range in front of them and said, "What you see in front of you is the outer sect of the Blood Skull sect. This whole mountain range, consisting of tens of mountains, is just the outer sect."
"The inner sect is within the secret realm somewhere in the mountain range. If you manage to reach the third mortal coil in your life, you will be able to enter the inner sect."
"In the outer sect, the only people you will see are disciples like you and elders like me. The core of the sect is in the secret realm. Anyone who intends to reach the fourth mortal coil must do their best to enter the secret realm."
"The secret realm is the foundation of a sect. Anyone can set up a sect anywhere in this region, but they won't be acknowledged as a sect unless they gain ownership and control of a secret realm."
"The secret realm is a location where the root of the Ethera tree enters the world. The Ethera tree is the source of life in the world. It is also the source of mana used to practice."
"The secret realm can be described as a space that serves as the pool of mana before the mana diffuses into the world. The concentration of mana in the secret realm is very high, which facilitates the creation of the golden core needed to reach the fourth mortal coil."
"Without access to the high concentration of mana in the secret realm, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to reach the fourth mortal coil. The high concentration of mana in the secret realm also makes cultivation faster."
"So if you're ambitious and need something to strive for, strive to enter the inner sect and live in the secret realm. To achieve that, all you need to do is reach the third mortal coil. No matter what invitation you use to enter the sect, as long as you reach the third mortal coil, you will become a member of the inner sect."
"All of you are in the outer sect no matter the grade of invitation you used to enter. The grade of your invitation will only determine what level of resources you get to start with. This will directly affect your chances of reaching the third mortal coil and will indirectly affect how fast you get to reach the third mortal coil if you get to reach it all."
"No matter what, to join the Blood Skull is your luck. The elder who took me on the tour on my first day in the sect told me that. I am telling you that now. Maybe one day, you will get to tell a group of people too."
"I don't hope so, though. Only people who have no hope of reaching the fourth mortal coil become elders in the outer sect."
He laughed when he said that. Then he said, "But seriously. Having the opportunity to enter the secret realm is a blessing. There are many people in the world who want this blessing but can never have it."
The man spoke to them along the way. They didn't stop until they reached the foot of the mountain.
There was a large black stele at the foot of the mountain. There were words written on it. The words were written with red ink so they stood out against the black material that made up the stele.
The words were in a language that Arthur didn't understand. No matter how he looked at the stele, he couldn't understand what was written on it.
Elder Bloodhound said to them, "Don't bother trying to read it. It is written in ancient script that can only be understood with divine sense."
"But not to worry, I'll tell you what it says. So listen and listen well."
"This right here is a short description of the establishment of the Blood Skull sect. It is a short story written by the first master of the sect."
The story was indeed short. But it was packed full of a lot of information.