The entire Righteous Faction had over 3,000 Starry Night Potion Shop branches. It didn’t matter if they had tangible assets or intangible assets. They had all reached astonishing heights. The golden letters at the entrance spelling ‘Starry Night Potion Shop’ were a reminder for all. Through these doors, gold would never stop flowing.
Nie Yan stepped into an elevator. It was simple and crude, operating on several magic crystals. The speed was nothing to write home about, incomparable to the ones in reality. However, it was the best you could find in the entire Viridian Empire.
Nie Yan took to the 16th floor. It had an open floor plan, with many work tables set up with all sorts of alchemy wares. There were 33 people busy at work.
These 33 players were the core of the Starry Night Potion Shop. 13 were Sage Alchemists while the remaining 20 were Grandmaster Alchemists!
There were only 33 Alchemists in the Righteous Faction who had reached Grandmaster or higher, and they were all employed by the Starry Night Potion Shop. This was also one of the reasons other potion shops couldn’t compete with them and were eventually swallowed up.
These top rank Alchemists were the greatest asset of the Starry Night Potion Shop. Even though there were only 33 of them, they were good for 30% of the business’ profits!
All 33 were hard at work. None of them noticed Nie Yan.
Nie Yan walked past them. Seeing them so deeply engrossed in their work, he faintly smiled. Many people felt the work of an Alchemist was all the same. Anybody could do it and reach a high rank. It was simply a matter of luck, both with success rate and finding good recipes. If those detractors were to see this scene, they would realize there was a lot more to Alchemy than luck.
After Bird finished concocting a potion, he happened to raise his head and notice Nie Yan. The dazed expression on his face quickly turned to elation. He opened his mouth to greet him, but was hushed by Nie Yan who raised a finger over his mouth.
Bird chuckled, then spoke in a normal tone. “Don’t worry, Boss. Before they finish their work, even if lightning struck them, they wouldn’t notice it. So, what are you here for?”
“I came to take a look at the upgraded shop and also restock on potions. Do you guys have anything special for me?” Nie Yan said. He had long since heard that Bird and the other 32 Alchemists were working on all kinds of new potions.
“You’ve come at the right time! We’ve recently made quite a few new products.” Bird smiled. He had already been wanting to show off these new creations to Nie Yan for quite a while.
A new option opened for Alchemists who reached the Sage-rank; they could research their own potions and create recipes. So far, more than 60% of the products sold in the Starry Night Potion Shop had been replaced with improved versions made by them. 60 more different kinds of potions were made into recipes and being mass produced.
One could imagine how much of an impact a Sage Alchemist would have on a potion shop!
While Bird was chatting with Nie Yan, the other Alchemists one by one finished their work. Noticing Nie Yan, they all came to greet him.
“Boss!”
“Hello, Boss!”
…
The Starry Night Potion Shop was a trade organization. And their boss called Nie Yan boss. So, they followed by example. Plus, they also felt this form of address was more natural.
Nie Yan nodded in acknowledgement. He looked around at the Alchemists. “You’ve all worked hard. Without you guys, the Starry Night Potion Shop wouldn’t be what it is today. Recently, with the guild going to war with Angel Corps, the burden on you all has increased. I’d like to express my gratitude again.”
“What are you talking about, Boss? We’re only doing our job! Don’t be sorry!”
“Right, you’re treating us like outsiders here!”
“Without the Starry Night Potion Shop, we wouldn’t be here today. So what if we have to work a little bit harder?”
…
Seeing their passionate expressions, Nie Yan felt proud. It seemed that the effort he had put into them hadn’t been wasted.
If the Starry Night Potion Shop wanted to recruit new Alchemists, offering a high salary alone wasn’t enough. He also had to build a sense of loyalty and attachment.
Nie Yan chatted with the Alchemists for a while. He asked them about their work and showed genuine interest. They all felt motivated that he was interested in what they were doing. The big boss himself took the time to talk with them; this was a huge honour! Conviction had hundreds of millions of players, but there was only one Nirvana Flame. He held a high position in their hearts.
“Guys, show the boss your latest creations. If he likes it, you will receive a bonus, up to 50,000 gold for each new potion!” Bird said.
Though none of them were short on cash, quite the opposite really, 50,000 gold was still a large sum to them.
“Awesome! Trust me, manager, we will have the boss’ eyes sparkling!” Quiet Nannan said proudly. He was the Starry Night Potion Shop’s number one Alchemist. In terms of concocting potions, no one was his equal, not even Bird.
“Alright, those are your words. If the boss isn’t satisfied, I’ll be docking your pay!” Bird chuckled.
Quiet Nannan chuckled evilly. It appeared he already had something up his sleeve. In terms of developing new potions, if he said he was number two, no one would dare to claim number one.
Two Alchemists hurried to the back, from where they brought over an empty table. Nie Yan was full of anticipation. He wondered what these geniuses who had altered the landscape of Conviction’s potion market would show him.
No doubt these Alchemists had come up with quite a few concoctions. Nie Yan felt his anticipation build up.
“Who wants to go first?” Bird asked.
Everyone stared at each other, but no one showed any signs of coming forward.
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
“Seriously? You guys are making me look bad here! No one wants to go up first!?” Bird rolled his eyes.
“The first to go up is only there to build up tension! My inventions are too good for that!”
“Yeah! My concoction is too good to go first!”
No one wanted to come first. Nie Yan bitterly smiled. Just what were these weirdos thinking?
“Don’t dally. The boss’ time is precious. Fine, I’ll pick someone. You, go up and bring out your potions. You won’t get another chance,” Bird said, pointing at a random Alchemist; a 20-something man. His appearance was quite neat with a pale complexion. At a glance you could tell he was a shut-in.
The Alchemist nodded reluctantly but walked up. He rummaged through his bag and brought out two potions. One was blue, the other green. He placed them on the table. “The blue one is an invisibility potion.”
“What makes it different from other invisibility potions?”
“Yeah! Tell us!”
…
The other Alchemists started grilling him.
The Alchemist’s face turned red. He shouted, “Let me finish speaking!”
Everyone shut up.
“Invisibility potions only work on land, not underwater. The boss likely knows this too,” the Alchemist said.
Nie Yan nodded.
“Well, this potion works the other way around. After drinking it, you’ll become completely transparent in water. Other than that, it’s quite similar to normal invisibility potions, also lasting about three minutes. Oh! It does have a few more advantages! It has no effect on movement speed or any other side effects. You’ll be able to swim like you normally would,” the Alchemist said proudly.
Bird turned to Nie Yan, who gave a nod.
“Water Invisibility Potion, accepted! Your reward is 10,000 gold!” Bird said.
Money was secondary. Receiving Nie Yan’s approval made the Alchemist’s heart race with excitement. He then went on to introduce the green potion, “This is a transformation potion, but what it transforms you into is what makes it special. After drinking it, you’ll become a seal and have your swimming speed increased by 300%. You can’t attack, and the effects will be cancelled if you’re damaged. The duration is 20 minutes, and it has a cooldown of five hours.”
Nie Yan’s eyes lit up. This was exactly the kind of potion he was lacking! Now, if he ever encountered some sort of situation underwater, he could easily deal with it. It seemed like this Alchemist specialized in underwater potions.
“I’ll also accept the Seal Transformation Potion. Your reward is 20,000 gold,” Nie Yan said. He was in high spirits after receiving these two new potions.
Seeing their friend being reward 30,000 gold for his two potions, the other Alchemists also became excited. They all took out their various creations, all of which Nie Yan had never heard of or seen before.
“Psychedelic Lust Potion. Be it a person or monster, even a drop will cause the target to be trapped in a hallucination, incapacitated and unable to defend themselves! Please have a sample. It’s an essential item when going out into the wilderness,” an old man said. His hair was grey, as was his mustache that dropped down his face. This 70-something year old grandpa, an excited expression on his face as he held the gaudy red potion in his hand, looked quite questionable.
Several female Alchemists grimaced as their faces turned red. “You old pervert!”
“Hot damn! I’m blown away. You can even make something like that in the game!?”
“What a world-shaking creation!”
“But how are you supposed to use this kind of potion? It’s not like the enemy will just drink it!”
“You can spike it in their drink!”
“What a good potion!”
Everyone exchanged banter. Of course, they were only joking. If you were to really use this kind of potion, before you could even do anything, you’d probably be struck to death by lightning.
Everyone gazed at Nie Yan. Such a strange potion, it was likely he wouldn’t accept it, would he?
Looking at this potion, Nie Yan sunk into deep thought. This Psychedelic Lust Potion had very few applications, but it might just come in handy in some very special situations. “Psychedelic Lust Potion accepted. Your reward is 10,000 gold.”
