Astral Apostle

Chapter 166: Entering the Sweatshop (1)

As Zhou Jing’s daily production was limited, it was difficult to obtain even a single potion. Every day before opening, there would be people lining up outside. Even Zhou Jing had to greet the crowd before he could squeeze in.

On this day, Bill’s Apothecary was open for business as usual. As usual, the door was surrounded by customers.

Zhou Jing sat behind the counter and collected the money for the sale of potions one by one.

At this moment, it was the turn of a well-dressed man with a mustache. He was holding a pain-reduction potion in his hand.

This person looked at Zhou Jing’s young face and suddenly asked,

“Did you learn the new formula from someone else, or did you improve the hunter’s potion formula yourself?”

Zhou Jing didn’t even raise his head, “It doesn’t matter what I say; it’s which one you believe.”

Mustache paused, then laughed. “Guess I’m not the first to ask.”

Only then did Zhou Jing look up and shrug, “Usually, when I say that I modified it, others will show an expression of doubt to me. After all, I’m so young. However, if I say that I learned it from others, they will think that it has to be the case.”

Mustache nodded. When he saw how young Zhou Jing was, his first reaction was the same. In the workshop, many pharmacists had the same thoughts about him as well.

However, at this moment, like the upper echelons of the workshop, he believed that Zhou Jing had modified these three potions himself.

It was actually not difficult to get a new formula because he just had to throw in different herbs. It was just that he could not grasp the final product so easily. The real difficulty was in improving the already existing formula. The difficulty was in the designated research and development goal. One needed to increase the original effect, reduce the side effects, and so on. They had to be very particular about what herbs to exchange for and how to deal with the materials. There were too many combinations and factors involved.

At this moment, the people in the queue behind became anxious.

“What are you talking about? Are you still buying?”

“There are so many people waiting. Can you hurry up!”

“Don’t try to pull strings and bargain. We don’t have the time to wait for you. If you don’t have money, go away!”

Hearing this, Mustache coughed awkwardly and stopped asking curiously. He straightened his back and suddenly spoke in a serious tone,

“I’m the expert pharmacist, Sura, certified by the Empire Workshop, and I specialize in hunter potions. I’m here to invite you on behalf of the workshop… Bill, do you want to join the Empire Workshop?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the noisy shop fell silent.

The anxious customers all looked at this person in surprise. Their tempers instantly improved, and they did not dare to act rashly.

An expert pharmacist certified by the empire was not an ordinary person. He had a powerful background!

The public’s evaluation of the pharmacists, blacksmiths and other craftsmen was very vague, but the Empire Workshop had a certification system for pharmacists themselves, divided across four levels. It started off with apprentices who had yet to graduate, to the most common standard, pharmacists. Most of the members of the workshop were at this level this standard level.

Only by reaching a certain level of skill in a certain field and making innovative achievements, such as improving formulas, developing new technologies, and so on, would one be qualified to be certified as an expert… It could be understood as possessing one or more patents with a certain value.

As for the top-notch masters, they had to produce groundbreaking results. The requirements were even harsher than the expert level, and they had to be conferred and certified by the empire personally. At this level, even the blood relatives and court ministers of the tribe would treat them with respect and warmly befriend them.

However, although everyone present respected him, they could not help but reveal strange expressions.

Even an expert pharmacist was moved by the aphrodisiac.

The Empire Workshop had invited Bill to join them. Could it be that they wanted to expand their business and enter the aphrodisiac industry?

Zhou Jing’s eyes flickered as he said, “If I join the Empire Workshop, what will I be in charge of researching?”

“The hunter’s potion, of course. You’re very talented at this.”

The mustached Sura quickly replied. He did not want others to misunderstand that the workshop was now dabbling into aphrodisiacs. He could not afford to lose face.

Zhou Jing pondered for a moment and revealed a troubled expression, “But the formulas I know are limited…”

“That’s not a problem,” Sura immediately replied. “When you enter the workshop, there will be manufacturing missions and research missions. The workshop will teach you some formulas that you haven’t learned before for free. If you want to learn a certain formula freely, you can accumulate merits and exchange for the knowledge you want to learn.”

“… Please tell me the truth. Was this style of contribution designed by a life form from an alternate dimension?”

Zhou Jing thought about it, but his expression did not change. He pretended to think and said, “I have no objections. It’s my honor to join the workshop… but I have a small condition. I don’t want benefits, but I have some ideas about the future research direction.”

“Do tell.” Sura replied curiously.

“I’m not really interested in universal potions or hunter potions. Actually, I’m very interested in the blood potion instead. If I want to study this direction in the future, I wonder if I can change my research path after I enter the workshop?”

“As long as you prove that you are good enough in a field, the workshop will not restrict your research route. Everything can all be applied for. If you want to study the blood potion, then accumulate more merits and learn the relevant knowledge yourself.” Sura agreed readily.

This kind of thing was very common in the workshop. The importance of each field varied, so the more critical the project, the more important it was. There were different benefits and treatments, so naturally, many people wanted to jump to better fields. There was also competition within the workshop.

As long as you do not apply to study aphrodisiacs, everything is fine…

“Then I’m very happy to join the workshop.”

Zhou Jing immediately stood up and smiled warmly as he shook hands with Sura.