"A guest standing at our door is a guest of Winters Tower. How dare you disrespect him and then lie to my face!" Her voice wasn’t loud, but the displeasure within it was unmistakable.
After saying this, she stepped forward and motioned for the greeter to move aside.
"I’m sorry, Miss. Please forgive me. I—I didn’t mean any disrespect. I swear, it won’t happen again. Please, have mercy." The greeter, sweating buckets immediately bowed his head and apologized, retreating awkwardly behind her.
He didn’t dare offend this woman. Although Elena appeared gentle and approachable, he knew exactly who she was.
She was one of the key candidates being groomed by the Winters Family to become its next family head.
Someone of his status had no right to offend her.
Elena ignored the greeter and turned her attention toward Ryan. A trace of apology appeared on her beautiful face.
"My subordinate was very offensive just now. I sincerely apologize on his behalf. Please forgive him Sir."
Her voice was gentle, carrying a faint fragrance-like softness.
She then smiled politely and continued, "I am Elena Winters, the manager of this Winters Tower. May I ask your name, Sir?"
Her gaze briefly swept over Ryan’s shabby clothes before returning to his face.
"And may I ask what brings you to Winters Tower today?"
Upon hearing her words, Ryan finally came back to his senses.
However, the moment her crimson lips parted, a beautiful voice flowed into his ears. At the same time, a faint fragrance, an enchanting feminine scent, drifted into his nostrils.
For some reason, his heart became restless, and his mind went blank once again.
Ryan wasn’t a lecherous person. It was simply that Elena’s temperament was extraordinary—something he had never encountered in his life. Her beauty and bearing possessed a natural charm that could captivate someone at first glance.
For a moment, he genuinely found it difficult to adapt.
Realizing that staring at her like this was rather impolite, Ryan hurriedly regained his composure. He lightly bit the tip of his tongue to steady his mind before reaching into his clothes and taking out the First-Tier Top Grade Origin Power Pill.
Holding the pill in his palm, he presented it to Elena and spoke seriously.
"My name is Ryan. I’m here to sell some pills. May I ask if Winters Tower buys them?"
The moment the pill entered Elena’s sight, her expression subtly changed.
It appeared to be a flawless First-Tier Top Grade Origin Power Pill.
A pleasant medicinal fragrance lingered around it, while its immense energy remained completely contained within. It didn’t leak out in the slightest, yet there was an indescribable sense of dominance about it—as though it naturally looked down upon every other pill of the same tier.
With Elena’s discerning eye, she recognized the extraordinary quality of the pill at a glance.
Although her expression remained calm, a ripple stirred within her heart.
She took another careful look at Ryan before smiling politely.
"Of course we do. Sir Ryan, please follow me."
With that, she turned and led the way into Winters Tower.
In truth, a First-Tier pill was no longer particularly rare to someone of Elena’s status.
However, a Top Grade pill was an entirely different matter.
Such pills possessed extraordinary medicinal effects and were highly sought after by Bloodline Fighters.
The Winters Family was a wealthy and powerful family, so it naturally didn’t lack ordinary pills.
What they lacked were precisely high-quality pills.
Even among First-Tier pills, whose refining difficulty was relatively low, the probability of producing a Top Grade pill was extremely small.
Only a highly skilled alchemist with exceptional control over the refining process could produce such a flawless result.
A true master could reveal their skill with even the simplest pill.
Elena had just briefly swept Ryan with her Mind Sense and discovered that his cultivation was surprisingly weak.
That was completely inconsistent with the Top Grade pill in his hand.
This immediately made her curious.
’Who exactly was this young man? Perhaps he had concealed his true strength using some secret technique. Or perhaps there was a powerful alchemist behind him.’
Another possibility was that Ryan himself was an apprentice of some master alchemist and had come here to scout the market, searching for a suitable Treasure Tower to establish a long-term partnership.
If that were the case, then even though Ryan was dressed in patched, old yellow clothes, he absolutely could not be underestimated.
Powerful individuals and people with significant backgrounds often had strange habits.
Perhaps his shabby appearance was simply part of his way of keeping a low profile.
Who could say?
Regardless of the truth, Elena knew that she had to establish a good relationship with him.
Fortunately, she had intervened in time and hadn’t allowed such a potentially important client to leave.
Otherwise, her performance evaluation within the family this year might have become rather troublesome.
"Okay."
Ryan, however, was completely unaware of the thoughts running through Elena’s mind.
After giving a simple nod, he didn’t say anything else and followed closely behind her, quickly entering the magnificent Winters Tower.
...
However, the moment Ryan and Elena disappeared into Winters Tower, the white-robed greeter’s face suddenly turned pale.
His legs went weak, and he collapsed directly onto the ground.
When Ryan had taken out the Top Grade Origin Power Pill earlier, the greeter had curiously glanced at it.
That single glance had been enough to shock him to his core.
"It’s bad... He’s a true master! I’m finished..."
He had never imagined that this young man, who looked no different from a beggar, had actually come to Winters Tower to sell pills.
More importantly, he had casually taken out a pill of such extraordinary quality.
Just how terrifying must the power behind him be?
The greeter had worked at Winters Tower for many years. Although he wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about pill refinement, he had enough experience to judge a pill’s quality from its appearance and aura.
That pill had been nearly flawless. Its medicinal energy was completely restrained, yet it carried an indescribable sense of dominance.
Even he could tell that it was worth an astonishing amount.
He had worked at Winters Tower for so long, yet he had never expected that he would one day fall victim to the oldest lesson of all: Never judge a book by its cover.
And this time, the price of that lesson was terrifying.
He had offended someone who was very likely backed by a powerful master.
The greeter could already imagine the furious reprimand he would receive from his superiors.
At best, he would face severe punishment.
At worst... he could not even be certain that his own life, or the lives of his family, would be spared.
The thought of what awaited him sent a violent tremor through his body. His legs gave way, and he curled into himself on the ground, his face drained of all color.
"I... I’m finished..."