Chapter Twenty-Two: The Grand Opening

After three days of refining, he had produced a total of 120 bottles of Blood-Replenishing Potion and 100 bottles of Vitality Potion. Calculating the profit, he could only sigh at how easy it was for alchemists to earn money—even with these most basic potions. In the remaining two days, Qi Xiao planned to craft some standardized enchanted weapons. Crude-grade alchemical weapons didn’t sell for much, but they provided feedback from the system; every sale, however small, counted.

Ordinary-grade alchemical weapons required far more effort for Qi Xiao to craft at his current level, but their cost-effectiveness was much higher. At the stage of wizard apprentice, there were far more varieties of weapons than potions, offering greater opportunities for system feedback.

Over the next two days, Qi Xiao crafted two weapons of each type at the crude grade—twenty-four in total. For ordinary grade, he made one of each type, totaling eight.

He mounted his griffin; today was already June 15th. Next month, he would need to help Mentor Midiel deliver auction items. He hoped to deliver them early in the month, so he could participate in the Black Gold Convention.

Before that... it would be best to craft a flying vehicle; it would make travel much easier, sparing him the trouble of renting a griffin every time.

Though time was tight, it also motivated Qi Xiao. He understood well that without a clear goal, he easily drifted into confusion or lethargy.

After returning the griffin, he arrived at his alchemy shop. Qi Xiao frowned in thought for a long while, then finally decided to name it Heavenly Works Alchemy Shop. As a seasoned failure at naming things, he simply couldn’t think of anything catchy.

He placed the potions and weapons in the warehouse. This alchemy shop was well-equipped; besides the front sales hall, it had all necessary facilities: storage, alchemy room, lounge, and more.

Yet, despite having rooms, the alchemy room contained only a furnace—otherwise, it was even more spacious and empty than the front hall. That was only natural; some alchemy equipment cost as much as the entire shop. Qi Xiao planned to bring some basic tools next time.

He arranged the shelves simply; before long, Yara and Demote arrived to report for duty.

After a greeting and a few words of encouragement, he had the two arrange the shop. Qi Xiao took a wooden plaque made from the trunk of a Sacred Feather Tree, carved the shop’s name onto it, and hung it above the door.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, Qi Xiao took the two assistants to a nearby restaurant for lunch, then prepared to open for business.

The commercial street was bustling, and many had already noticed this shop that had been slow to open, advertising only with a sign at the door announcing the grand opening at two o’clock on the fifteenth, without any other publicity.

Yara opened the door; a small crowd had already gathered outside. Even without deliberate advertising, the mere name “alchemy shop” was enough to attract customers.

Yara greeted customers with a radiant smile, inviting them in. The shop’s interior was spacious, comfortably accommodating a dozen people.

Phillips was holding a bottle of Vitality Potion, listening to Demote’s low introduction, examining it carefully.

He himself ran an alchemy shop, supported by three apprentice alchemists. His sensitivity to commercial threats made him quickly notice this new shop, soon to open in the heart of the commercial street.

He had someone investigate, but only received a simple warning: “Don’t provoke.”

He knew exactly what that meant—the owner of this shop had a formal wizard-level background.

Unable to resort to minor tricks, he came in person on opening day to assess the competition.

Some people beside him complained about there being only two basic types of potions, but Phillips grew more and more uneasy as he looked.

The voice of the beautiful female shop assistant apologized, promising that more types of potions and weapons would be available in the future. Phillips paid little mind to her words; instead, he walked along the counter, inspecting each bottle of Vitality Potion inside and out.

His own alchemy shop had been open for over a decade; though he wasn’t an alchemist himself, his expertise in evaluating these basic potions was unmatched—even his own alchemists hadn’t seen as many varieties as he had.

He could tell that all these potions were made by the same hand, and of exceptional quality. This was not the key point, however—the crucial detail was that these potions had been made very recently, within less than a week.

Examining the sediment in the potion, Phillips gripped the bottle tightly. A typical apprentice alchemist could produce at most twenty to thirty bottles of Vitality Potion a week, with a significant failure rate. The alchemist behind this shop produced at such a high efficiency—likely a senior wizard apprentice...

“Sir? Is there anything I can help you with?”

Phillips was jolted from his thoughts by the words. He looked up to find the beautiful witch shop assistant standing before him, her eyes curious as she glanced at the bottle of Vitality Potion clutched in his hand.

“No, nothing. I’ll buy this bottle of Vitality Potion, and then take a look at the weapons.”

Regaining his usual composure, Phillips quickly placed five magic crystals on the counter, just about to head to the weapons rack, when the witch handed one crystal back to him, smiling warmly. “Didn’t you hear, sir? Today is our grand opening, so all products are twenty percent off for the first week. We hope you’ll visit often!”

“Twenty... twenty percent off?”

“Yes, there will be various promotions and discounts from time to time! If you register for a membership card now, there are even more benefits!”

...

Qi Xiao watched the customers from the lounge, separated from the main hall by a one-way glass, giving him a clear view of the activity inside.

Seeing most customers opt to pay for a membership card, Qi Xiao couldn’t help but smile. In his previous life, these were the most basic commercial strategies.

They weren’t even “tricks”—merely normal tactics to attract and retain customers.

Yet, for some reason, in the wizarding world—at least in the All-Life Vault—he hadn’t seen other shops employ such methods. Considering the typically refined and selfish, often greedy nature of wizards, it was odd that they hadn’t thought of these basic tactics. Perhaps their attention simply lay elsewhere.

Whatever the reason, Qi Xiao had carved some cards with special inscriptions, modeled after identity cards, and introduced a few common strategies from his previous life on a small scale, which had proven effective so far.

But more than these, what delighted him most was the melodious voice in his ear:

“Congratulations! You have successfully completed an alchemical supply, and earned a reward—Zero-level Cantrip: Condensation.”

“Congratulations! You have successfully completed an alchemical supply, and earned a reward—Zero-level Cantrip: Shaping.”

“Congratulations! You have successfully completed an alchemical supply, and earned a reward—Zero-level Cantrip: Missile.”

Having sold two types of potions and a crude but extremely durable alchemical iron hammer, Qi Xiao’s mind was instantly filled with the detailed structure diagrams for three cantrip models, as if he had practiced them for years and could cast them effortlessly.

These three cantrips were of great significance to him. The first two were essential for mastering Alchemical Metallurgy, two of the three cantrips required, and combined with his own practice of Melting, he now had all three.

Missile, too, was a classic offensive cantrip, compensating somewhat for Qi Xiao’s lack of attack spells.