Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems-Chapter 164: Owl Cauldron Potion Shop

Evening, Locke stepped onto the bluestone brick ground of Chimera Market. Many wizards on the street subconsciously looked toward the official breeder badge worn on Locke's chest.
Locke stood in front of a potion shop with a sign showing an owl carrying a cauldron.
Axi and Andrew were both students of the same wizard mentor, from the same cohort, and had a good relationship, so they worked together in one potion shop.
Since first-class wizard apprentices needed to consume enormous magical resources for meditation and research, basically none of them could have just one job.
It was normal for one person to work two jobs simultaneously. Even if there were time management masters who worked desperately every day, doing three jobs while occasionally completing academy-assigned tasks, that was also normal.
At this time, there were quite a few customers inside the Owl Cauldron Potion Shop.
Also, there was a potion master assistant who caught Locke's attention.
This potion master assistant had the appearance of a middle-aged man, wearing a dirty wizard hat and an old wizard robe that even had some damage, merely patched with needle and thread.
This potion master assistant was talking with Andrew and Axi, but after just a few words, he was asked to leave by Andrew and Axi.
At the shop entrance, this potion master assistant glanced at Locke, who was also standing at the shop entrance, then said to Andrew and Axi, "The process for my Worm Regeneration Potion has been fine-tuned by my personal pharmaceutical laboratory. The effect is definitely better than the Worm Regeneration Potions produced by other pharmaceutical laboratories."
"If Owl Cauldron could purchase my Worm Regeneration Potion, it would definitely be profitable."
This potion master assistant quickly said to Andrew and Axi, whose faces were already showing impatience, "You two, we're all potion master assistants, please give me a chance."
"As long as you purchase a small amount of my Worm Regeneration Potion made with the new process, I believe it will quickly attract more customers..."
"Time will prove everything."
Axi impatiently waved her hand, "Robert, Andrew and I have told you how many times that our shop only cooperates with large personal pharmaceutical laboratories, or purchases potions whose efficacy has been proven by the market."
"Don't make things difficult for us anymore."
"You can try smaller potion shops. They might need your potions more. As long as your potions are verified in the market, we'll quickly purchase from you."
"Manager Andrew and I are just employees. This is Lady Irina's business. We two don't dare to randomly purchase products from a brand new personal pharmaceutical laboratory with no transaction history."
Andrew nodded on the side and patiently explained, "Robert, it's not that we won't give you face. You've probably gotten the same result going to other large potion shops these past few days."
Robert was somewhat unwilling to give up.
Two years ago, he had blindly established a personal pharmaceutical laboratory and invested at least three thousand magic stones and enormous effort in improving the Worm Regeneration Potion process. He had even published two C-level articles because of this and had already passed animal experiments, commoner experiments, and wizard apprentice experiments.
But now there was a problem.
His Worm Regeneration Potion's effect was only slightly better, not much better at all. It was the kind of improvement that was optional.
But because he had modified the process, larger-scale potion shops didn't dare to stock his Worm Regeneration Potion, even though he had the academy's production certification and various experimental data.
After all, major potion shops already had fixed potion import channels and really had no need to risk purchasing this kind of newly emerged improved potion.
Robert himself didn't want to temporarily sell his potions only at small potion shops.
Because he had lost too much money over these two years and was now desperate to break even, otherwise his personal pharmaceutical laboratory wouldn't be able to continue operating.
This was also a common embarrassing situation for first-class wizard apprentices in Lilith’s Cottage.
Not every first-class wizard apprentice could continuously produce revolutionary products like Locke and smoothly obtain various projects and sales channels.
Most first-class wizard apprentices often impulsively established personal pharmaceutical laboratories, only to get caught in financial crises.
Especially those first-class wizard apprentices who used loan contracts to get magic stones to establish pharmaceutical laboratories.
They were worse off, easily facing complete financial collapse. Not only did they not earn money for their research and cultivation, but they significantly delayed their progress.
Locke glanced at the first-class wizard apprentice named Robert. He was obviously an experienced first-class wizard apprentice, but his mana was surprisingly the same as his own three months ago, only a mere two hundred plus mana points, just slightly stronger than his former self.
'He must have invested most of his resources into his pharmaceutical laboratory, causing him to have no resources to support meditation. This is completely putting the cart before the horse.'
Locke quickly judged, 'I estimate his own aptitude isn't good either. Otherwise, after so many years, relying entirely on his own aptitude and using advanced meditation methods for cultivation, his mana couldn't possibly be so little.'
The gap between first-class wizard apprentices was really greater than that between humans and dogs.
The well-off ones were wizard seeds of major wizard organizations who had already begun to touch fields that only official wizards could learn, while those who were struggling lived lives that were truly pitiful to watch.
One word, miserable!
Locke glanced at Robert, who was very disappointed because he couldn't find any large potion shops willing to purchase the potions he developed, but had no intention of helping him.
First, this had nothing to do with him.
Second, this potion master assistant had only made certain production process improvements to the Worm Regeneration Potion.
That is to say, he hadn't changed the formula of the Worm Regeneration Potion.
He had only slightly improved the production process, because different production methods would slightly affect the potion's effectiveness but this also showed that he had made an incorrect judgment about market demand.
Theoretically speaking, what was causing his personal pharmaceutical laboratory to nearly go bankrupt wasn't anything else, but his own incorrect judgment of his financial capacity and market demand. He had spent two years doing an experiment that the market didn't really need.
He would have been better off having his pharmaceutical laboratory produce processed magical material products needed by large pharmaceutical laboratories, or following along to produce those conventional existing potions. He might even be making some small profits now.
Even selling high-grade growth gel, high-grade nutrient soil, and high-grade nutrient solution, these things without technical content, wouldn't be as miserable as his current situation.
Only then did Andrew and Axi notice Locke. The impatient expressions on their faces immediately disappeared, and smiles appeared on both their faces.
Axi raised an eyebrow at Locke, "Locke, you passed the breeder examination? I heard that exam is even harder than the potion master assistant exam."
"Congratulations, congratulations."
Andrew looked at Locke puzzledly, "But it's so late now, Locke, what brings you here?"
Locke coughed, "I recently also opened a personal pharmaceutical laboratory. I have a potion formula that recently got the academy's production license."
"So, I wanted to see if your shop would be willing to stock it."