"Thank you for your understanding, Sir Ryan." Elena’s heart immediately filled with joy when she saw Ryan accept the Winters Token, although she merely maintained a gentle smile on the surface.
"Oh, and there’s something else you should know." She continued, "This Winters Token doesn’t merely grant you access to the second floor of Winters Tower. It also comes with many other privileges."
"For example, with this token, you are considered a distinguished guest of the Winters Family and will receive our highest level of treatment."
Ryan raised his eyebrows slightly.
Elena continued with a smile, "Furthermore, any purchases you make at businesses under the Winters Family will receive a twelve percent discount."
"And you also have a pre-spending limit of three thousand Low-Grade Origin Stones. Any amount you spend through this privilege only needs to be repaid within one month."
’Pre-spending limit... three thousand Low-Grade Origin Stones?’ Ryan’s eyes immediately widened. ’And I get a twelve percent discount on purchases?’
His eyes practically lit up. As though afraid Elena might change her mind, Ryan immediately flicked his fingers and swiftly stored the Winters Token inside his spatial ring.
He couldn’t hide the excitement on his face.
’Miss Elena, thank you so much! If I obtain any more good things in the future, I’ll definitely come to you first!’ Ryan couldn’t help exclaiming inwardly.
This Winters Token was ridiculously valuable! A twelve percent discount was already extremely generous.
But the three-thousand-Origin-Stone pre-spending limit was even more astonishing.
Pre-spending meant he could enjoy the resources first and settle the bill later.
And the amount he could spend in advance was a staggering three thousand Low-Grade Origin Stones.
This was essentially allowing him to use the Winters Family’s resources on credit.
Ryan couldn’t help marveling at Elena’s methods.
This Winters Family really knew how to win over customers.
If his earlier promise to prioritize Winters Tower in future transactions had merely been a favor in return for Elena’s generosity, then his current promise was completely sincere.
After all, even he found it difficult to refuse such favorable conditions.
The Winters Family had actually turned something as simple as a VIP token into a comprehensive customer-retention strategy.
Ryan’s impression of the Winters Family rose considerably.
In fact, he had heard quite a few things about them from other students at the Bloodline Institute.
The Winters Family was one of the five super-wealthy families in Ashfall City, with business interests spanning an astonishing number of industries.
Their businesses included pills, combat artifacts, rare treasures, combat techniques, secret arts, battle formations, pet beasts, miscellaneous goods, inns and entertainment, land sales and rentals, large commercial and residential complexes, and countless other fields.
They truly had their hands in almost everything.
Before today, Ryan had thought some of the claims he heard at the Bloodline Institute were probably exaggerated.
But after personally experiencing the Winters Family’s business methods, he now understood that their reputation wasn’t without reason.
They really knew how to do business.
At this moment, sensing Ryan’s genuine delight, Elena knew that she had accomplished everything she wanted.
She smiled gracefully and gave a slight curtsy. "Then this humble one will thank Sir Ryan in advance. I look forward to our next cooperation."
"Alright." Ryan nodded with a faint smile. "If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving. You don’t need to see me off. I can go downstairs myself."
With that, he waved his hand casually and turned to leave.
"Alright, Young Master. Please take care." Elena watched him leave with a gentle smile.
Only after Ryan had walked out of the VIP room did she slowly sit back down.
... The room fell silent.
After a long while, having confirmed that Ryan had likely already descended to the first floor and left Winters Tower, Elena finally broke the silence.
"Uncle Reed, what do you think of this person?"
Reed remained silent for a moment before answering. "When you secretly transmitted a message to me with your Mental Awareness earlier, I used my True Sight Eye to observe him through the wall."
His voice was slightly hoarse and carried a serious tone. "Although he has awakened his Bloodline, it seems he only awakened it recently. His cultivation is merely at the Elemental Power Realm, Stage One."
He paused briefly. "His Bloodline is also nothing remarkable. It’s only a D-Grade Ordinary Bloodline, the Lifeform-Type Spider Bloodline. I couldn’t detect anything particularly unusual about it."
"Elemental Power Realm, Stage One?" Elena’s delicate brows rose slightly. "Are you certain he didn’t conceal his cultivation?"
She was genuinely surprised. "Even you, Uncle Reed, couldn’t detect anything unusual? It’s really just the lowest D-Grade Ordinary Bloodline?"
Elena knew exactly how formidable Reed was.
He was a genuine Peak Origin Transcendent Realm cultivator, only one opportunity away from breaking through to the next major realm.
Yet she also trusted her own intuition. Something about Ryan simply didn’t feel right. "Yes. I truly couldn’t see anything special."
Reed shook his head. He then looked at Elena with a trace of concern. "The Winters Token is extremely precious, and it is also related to that major event. Did you perhaps overlook something? Was it too hasty to give it to him just like that?"
He paused before asking, "Should I send someone to follow him?"
Reed genuinely couldn’t understand why Elena seemed to place such importance on that young man.
It was their first meeting, yet she had been willing to bestow an incredibly valuable Winters Token upon him.
Even he couldn’t help feeling slightly envious. More importantly, he knew that the Winters Token wasn’t merely a symbol of VIP status.
Besides the twelve percent discount and the three-thousand-Origin-Stone pre-spending limit, it was also closely connected to a major event that was about to take place.
Elena simply hadn’t revealed this information to Ryan yet.
If she had told him everything now, Reed suspected Ryan might not even have dared to accept the token.
Reed’s full name was unknown to most outsiders.
Within the Winters Family, however, he was known as Eagle Eyes Reed.
His cultivation had reached the Peak Origin Transcendent Realm, and he was only one opportunity away from advancing to the next major realm.
His Bloodline was a B-Grade Ordinary Enhancement-Type Bloodline, True Sight Eye.
As a Bloodline’s grade evolved, the energy contained within its Bloodline Essence would undergo a qualitative transformation, becoming increasingly pure and concentrated.
This change could be observed through the color of the Origin Sea Bloodline.
When a Bloodline Fighter infused the pure white Primal Origin Sea into their Bloodline Essence, the energy circulating back out would take on a specific color.
This was one of the most reliable ways to distinguish Bloodline grades.
For D-Grade and C-Grade Bloodlines, the Origin Sea Bloodline appeared white and yellow respectively.
For B-Grade and A-Grade Bloodlines, it became cyan and red.
As for S-Grade, SS-Grade, and SSS-Grade Bloodlines, the corresponding colors were black, black-gold, and gold.
Multi-Bloodline Users were an exception. The color of the Origin Sea Bloodline within their bodies could change depending on which Bloodline Essence they were currently utilizing.
The Primal Origin Sea was inherently pure white.
When it entered a Bloodline Essence of a particular grade, it would circulate through it once before the transformed energy flowed back out.
That returned energy was the Origin Sea Bloodline.
It was almost like dye. The Bloodline Essence would transform the originally colorless, or rather, pure-white, energy into a specific color corresponding to its grade.
Of course, this referred only to the inherent color of Origin Sea Bloodline.
It was the color that appeared while the energy remained within the Origin Energy Sea, circulated through the meridians, or reached the surface of the skin.
It was entirely different from the color of a Bloodline ability after it was finally materialized and released outside the body.
The latter depended on the specific type of Bloodline.
For example, when Ryan activated his D-Grade Spider Bloodline, the pure-white Primal Origin Sea within his body would transform into white Origin Sea Bloodline after passing through his Bloodline Essence.
From his Origin Energy Sea to his meridians and finally to the surface of his skin, the energy would remain white.
However, once his Bloodline ability was materialized and released, the appearance would depend on the ability itself.
His Spider Silk was snowy white, while his Spider Claws could transform his arms into sinister black arm-blades.
Reed’s True Sight Eye followed the same principle.
Before his Bloodline evolved, the Origin Sea within his body had also been pure white.
But after his Bloodline evolved to B-Grade Ordinary, once the Primal Origin Sea entered his B-Grade Bloodline Essence and circulated through it, the Origin Sea Bloodline that emerged would become cyan.
This was one of the clearest distinctions between Bloodline grades.
And Reed’s True Sight Eye possessed far more wondrous abilities than merely distinguishing Bloodline grades.
Its passive ability was Dispelling Illusions. It could penetrate the superficial appearance of things and perceive their underlying essence.
It also granted immunity to illusions, hallucinations, and hypnotic effects of the same rank or below.
Its active ability was even more terrifying Perspective Analysis.
With it, Reed could instantly discern another person’s cultivation level and even analyze the various abilities contained within their Bloodline.
Cultivation was relatively easy to assess. Even ordinary Bloodline Fighters could roughly judge another person’s cultivation by comparing their aura with their own.
Bloodline abilities, however, were an entirely different matter.
The Bloodline Essence Drop was condensed deep within the Origin Energy Sea.
Unless a person actively used their Bloodline or deliberately exposed its characteristics, it was extremely difficult to determine what abilities their Bloodline possessed.
No matter how high one’s cultivation was, this remained true.
Bloodline abilities could therefore be considered one of a Bloodline Fighter’s greatest secrets.
Most people would never casually reveal them unless absolutely necessary.
This was precisely what made the True Sight Eye so terrifying.
It could uncover secrets that others desperately tried to conceal.
And that wasn’t all. When combined with suitable Bloodline secret arts, the True Sight Eye could even analyze another person’s refining formulas and deduce crucial refining techniques.
Even complex pill formulas and key alchemy techniques could be analyzed and reconstructed.
Although they couldn’t necessarily be restored perfectly, they could generally be replicated to around seventy to eighty percent of the original.
This ability was extraordinarily formidable. Reed was not only powerful but also extremely knowledgeable.
After serving the Winters Family for many years, he had become one of the top appraisers within Winters Tower.
His experience and knowledge in identifying treasures, pills, Bloodlines, and various cultivation resources were far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
If his B-Grade Ordinary Bloodline had been an overwhelmingly powerful attack-type Bloodline, someone like him could absolutely run rampant in a medium-sized city like Ashfall City.
Unfortunately, the True Sight Eye was primarily an auxiliary and investigative Bloodline rather than an offensive one.
But even so, its value was extraordinary.
And now, even after using such a powerful Bloodline ability to examine Ryan, Reed had found nothing unusual.
That was precisely what made Elena’s intuition even more difficult to ignore. ... All Bloodlines could generally be divided into three major categories based on their primary ability types:
[Attack Type], Primarily focused on offense and killing. This category possessed the strongest and most domineering offensive abilities.
Examples included the Fire Bloodline, Sword Bloodline, and Fierce Tiger Bloodline.
[Control Type], Primarily focused on restricting movement and controlling opponents. Their offensive capabilities were generally moderate, but their abilities tended to be mysterious and unpredictable.
Examples included the Spider Bloodline, Thorn Bloodline, and various eye-based illusion Bloodlines.
[Support/Defense Type], Primarily focused on functional support and defensive abilities. Their direct offensive capabilities were generally weaker, but they possessed the greatest variety of utility.
The True Sight Eye’s Perspective Analysis ability was one example.
Other Support/Defense Bloodlines could temporarily enhance an ally’s strength, speed, defense, or other attributes.
Of course, a non-attack-type Bloodline didn’t mean it was incapable of attacking, nor did the classification represent an absolute distinction between strength and weakness.
It merely described the general direction in which a Bloodline’s abilities were inclined.
There was even a common saying throughout the Crimson Expanse:
There are no weak Bloodline types, only weak Bloodline Fighters.
For example, a Control-Type illusion Bloodline might not possess overwhelming destructive power.
But if its Bloodline grade was sufficiently high, it could potentially control an enemy weaker than its wielder to the point of forcing them to harm themselves.
That kind of ability was undoubtedly terrifying.
Likewise, although most Support/Defense Bloodlines possessed relatively weak offensive capabilities, they played an extremely important role within teams and powerful families.
A powerful support-type Bloodline could determine the outcome of an entire battle.
As for Reed’s True Sight Eye, if it hadn’t been a Bloodline with such extraordinary auxiliary abilities, and if he hadn’t owed the Winters Family Head a favor many years ago, he would absolutely not have condescended to work as a top-tier appraiser at Winters Tower.
"Uncle Reed, I naturally have my reasons for choosing him." Elena shook her head firmly. "I trust my intuition. Besides, that matter is already imminent. I don’t have the time to wait any longer."
A faint bitter smile appeared on her lips. "I can only gamble."
She paused before adding firmly, "As for tracking him? Absolutely not."
"Many people with strength or significant backgrounds hate having others pry into their secrets. It took considerable effort to find a potential candidate, so I don’t want to offend him unnecessarily."
Elena glanced at the three pills on the table. "Just help me thoroughly examine these Masterpiece-grade pills."
"If there are any profound techniques involved in their refinement, see whether we can replicate them. If we can reproduce even part of their refining method, it should significantly improve the alchemy skills of our family’s alchemists."
There was absolute confidence in her voice. She believed that she hadn’t made the wrong choice.
After all, the holder of this Winters Token, as well as the major event that was about to occur, could have a significant impact on her future position within the family.
If she didn’t have such strong confidence in her intuition, she wouldn’t have dared to give away the Winters Token so casually.
"Alright..." Hearing this, Reed sighed softly before nodding. "Since you’ve already made your decision, I understand."
The secrets contained within Masterpiece-grade pills possessed an irresistible allure to any knowledgeable alchemist.
Reed stopped wasting words. He slowly closed his eyes. A moment later, he suddenly raised his right hand and extended his index and middle fingers together like a sword.
Immediately, a rich and incredibly dense cyan Origin energy surged between his two fingers.
The cyan energy was so concentrated that it almost seemed to solidify.
Reed then swiftly swept his sword-like fingers across his eyes from left to right.
A thin cyan line flashed across them.
The next instant, his eyes suddenly snapped open.
Dazzling, multicolored light erupted from his pupils, brilliant and magnificent.
"Spirit Rank Low Grade Secret Art..." His voice became solemn. "Seven-Colored Eyes, open!"
As his voice fell, dazzling spiral-shaped rays of multicolored light erupted from his pupils.
They resembled two miniature seven-colored kaleidoscopes, rapidly rotating within his eyes.
At that moment, Reed’s vision underwent a tremendous transformation.
His microscopic vision instantly pierced through the superficial appearance of objects, allowing him to observe details that ordinary eyes could never perceive.
His gaze quickly locked onto the three Top Grade pills resting on the table.
The pills began to enlarge rapidly within his vision.
From Ten times to hundred times to thousand times and it still kept increasing...
In the blink of an eye, even the tiniest pores and microscopic irregularities on the surface of the pills were magnified countless times.
Every minute detail became clearly visible within his eyes.
Reed’s expression gradually became solemn. He had begun his examination.