He was intrigued to hear about the soul lamps and their function. His interest in them made him curious about how they looked and how they functioned.
Unfortunately, they didn't allow him to peak at them. No amount of grumbling was going to let him have his way. His grumbling was only to vent his frustration about not being able to satiate his curiosity.
So, he asked Elder Storm Hawk, "How would I know what's special about them if I can't see them? Have you seen them? Has anyone in the sect seen them? Are we even sure that they are not a hoax or something?"
The barrage of questions made her groan in frustration. The sight amused him because he had done so intentionally to irritate her.
He didn't think she would reply, but she took his question seriously and replied.
"The last two functions of the soul lamps represent that you have joined the Blood Skull sect completely. But these two functions are also why the location of the soul lamps is hidden from us and everyone in the sect."
"From what I've heard, the soul lamps are kept together in the same place. So if their location leaks and an enemy is able to find them, that enemy will be able to use the soul lamps to find every inner sect member of the sect."
He exclaimed, "Oh."
She turned to him and asked, "Can you imagine how bad that can be?"
He could, so he nodded in reply.
She said, "Now you see why the location of the soul lamps has to be kept hidden. I've heard about many schemes to find the location of our soul lamps. I'm not sure they are true since I have no personal experience with it. But the rumors seem credible."
"I heard that a spy whose soul had already been compromised was sent into the sect. The spy didn't know that he was a spy until he became an inner sect disciple of the sect. It was then that he heard a message telling him that he would die if he didn't find the soul lamps."
"The spy became afraid. But instead of being cowed into submission and doing the duty of a desperate spy, the spy reported the situation to the grand elders of the sect. The grand elders in turn reported it to the patriarchs."
"The spy thought that the sect would save them. But the spy exploded when they betrayed their mission. Apparently, a nascent soul cultivator had modified their soul and rigged it into a bomb or something like that. So the spy was never going to be saved."
He felt a chill as he listened. After she was done speaking, he sighed in relief and said, "Fortunately, that's a rumor. It would truly be bad if anyone could be a modified spy without knowing it."
She nodded and said, "I can agree with the latter. It would be bad if anyone could be a bomb and be ignorant of it. But like I said earlier, the story might not just be a rumor."
He stopped thinking about it and went to the next place to collect the benefits of becoming a disciple of the inner sect of the Blood Skull sect.
The first benefit was a new robe. His previous robe was a white one with a golden skull on it. The new one was a black one with a red skull on it.
This new robe also had a defensive shield array on it. The array was weak, but it could come in handy in desperate situations.
The second reward was a space ring. It was a low-grade space ring with a cubic space that is 10 meters in length, breadth, and height.
He already had one low-grade ring, which he purchased with his own money. But another one was welcomed and appreciated.
The third reward was a protective talisman. This talisman was a rank 4 consumable.
If used completely, it could produce a single attack equal to the power of a golden core cultivator. But if used slowly, the talisman could produce three attacks with a power output that was at the peak of the third mortal coil.
The fourth reward was a token to acquire one rank 3 high-grade technique or spell from the library. He could also use the token to get two spells or techniques of lower grade.
The final reward was another token to get one top-grade weapon or defensive artifact from the weapon-forging hall. The token could also be exchanged for two weaker weapons or defensive artifacts.
That marked the end of his registration process. With this done, he left the personnel hall with Elder Storm Hawk.
On their way out, she said to him, "You should go and exchange the tokens for the spells and weapons. Make sure to pick good options too because you're going to pay the price of them."
Arthur said with determination, "I will make sure to pick something that I won't regret."
Then he asked her, "I know that you're in a rush to leave, so I won't ask you to take me to the library and the forging hall. But will you at least point out the way to me?"
She refused his request and suggested something else. "Just use your sect ID card. It can lead the way to whichever hall you want."
His eyes lit up at the mention of the ID card. He said, "Really? The ID card can do that? It is just full of so many functions.
He took out the ID card and began to admire it. It had gained more functions after being activated with his blood and registered with the inner sect.
It didn't gain the extra functions out of thin air. It was more like he had gained more authority to use some of the hidden abilities of the sect ID card.
He muttered to himself as he examined the engraved small glass package called the sect ID card, "Maybe I've underestimated you. You just seem to get more and more complicated the more I know about you."