Chapter 588: Tyrant's Eye Potion and Renting a Pharmacy! |
At the Feathered Serpent Pavilion, Locke spent 50,000 magic stones in this shop's reading room to access a large amount of rare potion studies materials.
The table in the completely soundproofed reading room was covered with documents and materials.
These were precious potion studies materials, formulas, and books that were difficult to access in the outside world, but could be purchased with magic stones at the Feathered Serpent Pavilion.
Moreover, he had a half-price privilege at the Feathered Serpent Pavilion.
Plus, he currently wasn't short on money, so there was no need to save money in this area.
Passing the fourth round of the ladder test quickly would be very beneficial to him.
According to the half-dragon person, he could use a designated reward range method to select materials very beneficial for advancing to the Second Circle.
He had witnessed the difficulty of advancing to the Second Circle. Even Grand Wizard Sulla had prepared for over fifty years, only to fail in the end.
Therefore, in the area of advancing to the Second Circle, the more thoroughly he prepared, the better.
Previously, in private exchanges with him, he had asked for some opinions about becoming a Second Circle wizard. Reportedly, Kelt had only successfully established Grand Magic after failing five times.
Cloud Marsh Wetland had a major advantage over external wizard lands—there were many supporting facilities here for simulating the establishment of Grand Magic, and these services could even be purchased at various shop alliances.
Therefore, wizards who couldn't become Second Circle wizards in external wizard lands had more hope for success here.
Wizard Kelt had privately told him that if he had been in other regions and his luck hadn't been so good, he probably wouldn't even have been able to become a Second Circle wizard.
The key was that his entry into Golden Crown Mountain seemed to be related to Tranquil Garden, which had been disbanded during the Abyss War.
Thinking of the Abyss War, Locke looked at the abyss potion studies materials in his hands and frowned. Before him was a top-secret abyss creature compendium that recorded all First Circle forms and special abilities of the beholder clan.
Nourished by these top-secret materials, his abyss potion studies level was rapidly advancing.
Locke looked at the materials, "The most powerful beholder at the First Circle stage isn't the beholder elder, but the Tyrant Beholder. Tyrant Beholders possess 360-degree full-view ability. Each type of pupil can release mental magic from the Enchantment School."
"Moreover, it's the core material for many abyss potions. Among the materials I exchanged, there's a document related to the Tyrant's Eye Potion."
"Although there's no formula..."
"After taking the Tyrant's Eye Potion, it's like receiving the gaze of a Tyrant Beholder. It can briefly elevate one's mental power sensitivity and mental power perception in a very short time, allowing one to sense things that couldn't be sensed before taking it."
"And it can rapidly increase one's mental power." Locke's spirit lifted. "I haven't found a way to pass the fourth round of the ladder, but while searching through materials, I've found a way to rapidly increase my mental power to 9999."
"I still have to wait over half a month for the soul artifact, but this potion can indeed be tried once for formulation."
Locke read the clear warning about Tyrant's Eye. "This formula has many adverse side effects. Wizards without strong constitutions are forbidden from taking it."
"An ordinary wizard can only take it once per year. After taking it multiple times, one will be contaminated by the Tyrant Beholder's spirituality. When closing one's eyes, one will constantly see Tyrant Beholder hallucinations, as if constantly gazed upon by the Tyrant Beholder's pupils. The side effects are very significant."
Locke looked at this and shook his head slightly. "Never mind. My abyss resistance is also abnormally high. I'm not an ordinary wizard. Moreover, potions that can increase the magical pressure of First Circle crystallization stage wizards are extremely rare and hard to find on the market."
"Very scarce. Even if there are such potions, the side effects might be even greater than this."
Even in Cloud Marsh Wetland, First Circle crystallization stage wizards weren't common.
They were already considered relatively powerful wizards among the younger generation.
Locke had previously tried to purchase potions that increase magical power for First Circle crystallization stage wizards at the Dragon Blood Market Castle.
The result was finding that they were either weakly effective, like the Dream Heart Potion.
The medicinal effect was almost indistinguishable from having none at all. Buying it would be a waste of money.
Or they were like Blue Gold Heart, miraculous potions that exchanged one's life source essence for increased magical pressure. The side effects were so severe they were astonishing.
Compared to sacrifice potions, they were like a minor wizard meeting a grand wizard.
Drinking such potions frequently could potentially cause one's soul to suddenly dissipate one day.
There was a potion on the market called Flame Sun Spring Potion that only required lowering one's fire element resistance to enhance mental power growth speed. One bottle only cost 100,000 magic stones.
Taking it five times a month could increase a First Circle crystallization stage wizard's mental power. He had originally wanted to purchase that potion.
But now, he had a better choice.
For others, the side effects of Tyrant's Eye Potion would definitely be greater than Flame Sun Spring, or even Blue Gold Heart and Dream Heart.
But for himself, this wasn't necessarily the case.
Especially since his eyes had an independent abyss energy circulation.
"Although from a monetary perspective, learning the Tyrant’s Eye Potion and improving it to reduce side effects and enhance efficacy might cost slightly more money than directly purchasing Flame Sun Spring Potion."
Locke said, "But researching this abyss potion itself improves my understanding of abyss potion studies. It has immense benefits for me, and I have a cheat that can shorten the research process."
"Therefore, from a cost-effectiveness perspective, compared to purchasing Flame Sun Spring Potion, it's better for me to research Tyrant's Eye Potion myself."
Locke made a judgment. "Moreover, although Flame Sun Spring Potion has smaller side effects and some effect, even if I spend 500,000 per month, I absolutely couldn't reach 9999 magical pressure within half a year."
And in just over a month, it would be time for the abyss ruins exploration and spell combat competition.
He needed a more powerfully effective potion.
Let alone finding such a potion on the market—even if it existed, it would only appear in some big shot's private laboratory.
Then there was only one path to take—research it himself.
Locke left the reading room and found the shop's half-dragon owner, asking, "I want to rent your shop's highest-level First Circle stage potion room for an extended period. I remember there's this service. One month costs 80,000 magic stones originally, but for me it's half price at 40,000 magic stones."
The half-dragon shop owner bowed to Locke. "Esteemed customer, that is indeed the case."
This mainly served potion masters who wanted to research potions but didn't want to invest millions of magic stones in equipment upfront (or possibly didn't have the money).
Equipment investment for a First Circle level potion room ranged from the most basic tens of thousands—that kind could only handle ordinary First Circle stage potions—up to the millions needed for a First Circle crystallization stage potion master's potion room.
Some equipment pieces alone cost one million.
Therefore, the Feathered Serpent Pavilion provided rental services.
For example, a top-tier First Circle potion room with the most complete equipment set only required 40,000 in monthly rent. You didn't need to take out loans, seek investment, or borrow money upfront to rent a potion room worth over five million magic stones.
Of course, from a long-term perspective, directly setting up a potion room would definitely be more cost-effective.
Otherwise, renting long-term would basically equal directly setting up a potion room.
It was just that setting up a pharmacy required money, people, purchasing equipment, and would take half a year to complete.
Locke currently needed to immediately start a pharmacy to develop Tyrant's Eye Potion and make his magical pressure reach 9999 as quickly as possible.
He needed to secure the qualification for the once-in-ten-years Silent Grail Plane Conquest Competition that he had luckily encountered.
So he had to start immediately.
Moreover, from a cost-effectiveness perspective, he would need at least ten years of renting a potion room at the Feathered Serpent Pavilion before the cost would be roughly equal to setting up his own top-tier potion room.
It would take at least fifteen to twenty years before the rental cost would exceed the purchase cost.
But the problem was, could he really afford to wait fifteen years?
If he was still a First Circle wizard after fifteen years, he might as well quit now.
As someone with a bright future, time was the most valuable thing.
What could be bought with money was the cheap stuff.
Locke adjusted his mindset, realizing he had to invest magic stones in himself and purchase things that could save his time.
Locke asked, "Besides this, can the Feathered Serpent Pavilion also provide some potion masters for hire? At least First Circle level."
The half-dragon shop owner said to Locke, "Esteemed customer, you want to rent space and hire talent? Yes, as you said, the Feathered Serpent Pavilion can rent you the top-tier First Circle potion room with complete internal equipment."
"Some rarely used top-tier First Circle equipment, Second Circle equipment that only Second Circle potion masters need, can all be rented separately here."
"But regarding talent, unfortunately, the Feathered Serpent Pavilion only cultivates, not employs. However, if you're willing, we can provide you with a list of potion masters interested in employment and act as an intermediary to help you connect and assist you in building your own pharmacy."
Locke nodded slightly.
He knew about the Feathered Serpent Pavilion's services in this area.
With so many potion masters around the Feathered Serpent Pavilion, they could easily create a complete talent market industrial chain with a casual move.
Just to cultivate excellent potion masters, this industrial chain would be very useful.
If he went elsewhere, it would be very difficult to obtain such complete résumés of First Circle potion masters.
The half-dragon shop owner said, "I can give you our Feathered Serpent Pavilion customer materials. However, esteemed guest, for this part, you cannot pay only half the salary."
"An ordinary First Circle potion master has a salary of about 10,000 magic stones per month."
"A First Circle vaporization stage potion master's salary is around 30,000 per month, a First Circle liquefaction stage potion master's salary is around 50,000, and a First Circle crystallization stage potion master's salary is around 100,000."
"Higher-stage potion masters' average salaries are slightly higher than hiring ordinary wizards. The closer to Second Circle level potion studies, the harder they are to obtain. After all, under normal circumstances, a wizard cannot use potion studies knowledge to become a Second Circle wizard or advance."
"Part-time studying potion studies is itself an extra effort. Many wizards who can't progress for years may actively abandon potion studies and focus on botany or another discipline to support continued progress."
"You know, many wizards are stuck at the First Circle crystallization to Second Circle stage for hundreds of years. During this process, they make many choices. Many wizards at this stage abandon their potion master identity and only focus on being a wizard."
The half-dragon said, "So hiring potion studies wizards costs slightly more. Moreover, they're generally part-time. If full-time, this money wouldn't be enough to hire them."
"For part-time, they can spend about six hours a day in your pharmacy. It might be evening, it might be early morning—basically squeezed out of their spare time."
Locke nodded slightly, understanding this situation.
Official wizards were all pursuing teaching positions.
People could hire an official wizard for ten or twenty thousand magic stones. The key was that teaching position associated with the White Wizard Association, not really that little money.
Many wizards, for their own research, could only work three jobs simultaneously to subsidize their own projects.
Even official wizards, even Second Circle wizards, could die from overwork or become sleepers from not sleeping for long periods.
Anyway, it generally took decades of not sleeping, gradually accumulating damage, to become a sleeper.
Originally, Locke had wondered why, when everyone knew that not sleeping for long periods would turn them into sleepers, there were still people who couldn't even manage to sleep once or twice a month.
After arriving at Cloud Marsh Wetland, he understood what it meant to sacrifice life to grind out research progress.
Who didn't know they were damaging their health bar? But some wizards had been forced to only exchange research funding and continued progress by losing health.
After all, wizards who could earn large amounts of magic stones on True Love Festival day were a minority. More official wizards either relied on part-time jobs to earn money or relied on improving small formulas to earn a little money.
Wait.
Locke suddenly thought of the idle chat he'd heard from researchers in Group 6. There was an ordinary researcher who said that when improving a small wizard wine formula, the cost exceeded the profit, resulting in losing money instead.
Most wizards lost money more often than not when improving and developing.
This was the norm in this world.
He was already an exception.
And his student Williams had excellent personal innovation ability.
His other student, Gregor, didn't have her kind of innovation ability and related business acumen.
Of course, there was also a very small number of people who made money and had the ability to make money.
But while making money, they were followed by those with ulterior motives—gambling, fraud, risky investments, etc.—instantly causing class downfall.
Like Daniel.
Locke said to the half-dragon shop owner, "I understand. I want to hire three First Circle crystallization stage potion studies wizards. I mean, their level must also be First Circle crystallization stage. Ideally, they have experience formulating First Circle crystallization potions. The Feathered Serpent Pavilion has an advantage in this—I imagine you should be very clear about each potion master's true level."
"I need at least three such wizards, and I need them to come work recently."
He was also becoming a capitalist.
These people were probably official wizards from various major wizard organizations. There would rarely be independent practitioners.
Wizards in Cloud Marsh Wetland either entered major wizard organizations, entered shop alliances, or organized wizard organizations themselves.
Or entered wizard institutions like Jungle Hand, Ancient Relic Protection Foundation, or Rare Magical Creature Containment Facilities, the Big Five Banks and other wizard banks, etc...
Or entered major sports leagues, major trans-wizard-land clubs, etc...
At minimum, they opened their own shop, or had personal freedom, like bard celebrity teams.
The Mira sun ring wizard sisters were an example.
Their performance troupe was already a medium-sized wizard organization with staff members possessing teaching positions recognized by the White Wizard Association.
There were official wizards who purely lived by working for others, but that wouldn't be their normal state. Otherwise, they might as well leave Cloud Marsh Wetland and enjoy life in other wizard lands.
Of course, nothing is absolute.
The half-dragon bowed to Locke. "Then I'll deliver the organized materials to you this afternoon."