Tilly said confidently, "After testing, this mass production line only requires one hour of your time daily, plus one Second-Class Wizard Apprentice overseeing operations, to produce 10 kilograms of Advanced Growth Serum Gel per day."
"Similarly, we'll need to purchase about 50 kilograms of Fluorescent Moss daily as raw material."
Locke frowned slightly. Ten kilograms per day meant approximately 100 kilograms every ten days, which would sell for about 90 Magic Stones on the market.
After deducting the negligible cost of Fluorescent Moss as raw material, the profit would be around 80 Magic Stones.
This meant if the production line were opened to external orders, it could generate roughly 240 Magic Stones monthly.
But he had to factor in his own time investment—over thirty hours per month—plus the wages for a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice.
While an outstanding Second-Class Wizard Apprentice might command 90 Magic Stones monthly, 50 Magic Stones would be more typical for this kind of work.
Expanding production would require even more of his time and additional apprentices to assist with manufacturing.
Clearly, mass-producing this Advanced Growth Serum Gel wasn't particularly profitable.
Unless it was a pharmaceutical operation specializing in this field—continuously scaling up production, cutting costs, and refining techniques—other pharmaceutical rooms would find the returns too meager and labor-intensive.
Compared to the profits from his Plantation's three Magic Plants or the treatment fees earned from selling Emerald Potions produced in his workshop to clinics, the income from Advanced Growth Serum Gel was negligible.
'Moving forward, my Pharmaceutical Room should avoid relying on products like Advanced Growth Serum Gel, Shadow Agent, Advanced Nutrient Soil, and Potion Nutrient Solution as primary income sources,' Locke reflected. 'These lack technological barriers and simply aren't worth the effort. It's barely better than selling my time working as a healer.'
'It's purely about volume at the expense of my valuable time.'
'This production line should just meet our own needs.'
'It might save some costs, especially as my Plantation expands.'
A tinge of regret surfaced as Locke murmured, "The savings aren't significant, and it wastes my time. Only during my free periods would it make sense to produce this myself. When busy with research, I should just purchase from Lijin Secret Language."
All factors considered, while self-producing Advanced Growth Serum Gel had merits, the opportunity cost—particularly for someone as occupied as himself—made it a losing proposition.
Yet Locke's regret quickly dissipated.
This misinvestment was necessary!
After all, some lessons can only be learned through firsthand experience.
For a First-Class Wizard Apprentice like himself, accustomed to cultivating high-value Magic Plants, producing Advanced Growth Serum Gel personally was not only unnecessary but also somewhat of a waste of time—a rather trivial endeavor.
However, for certain impoverished First-Class Wizard Apprentices with cheap time and no lucrative income streams, it was an entirely different matter.
Thus, the same task yielded completely different returns for different individuals.
He had made a minor miscalculation in investment when setting up his Personal Pharmaceutical Room.
Still, this could hardly be considered a loss. Equipping the Pharmaceutical Room with a production line for mass-producing Advanced Growth Serum Gel was harmless, even beneficial—it allowed both him and his staff to familiarize themselves with large-scale production techniques in advance.
This, in itself, was a form of learning.
His assistant, Tilly, hugged the documents in her arms and looked up at Locke in confusion. "Boss, you don't seem very happy."
Locke shook his head slightly. "It's nothing. You've done well, Tilly."
Tilly beamed with pride.
As a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice, Tilly's perspective was limited—she naturally wouldn't understand the calculations he had just made, and there was no need to explain them to her.
Locke turned to Tilly and asked about the truly important matter—the production line for the first product their Pharmaceutical Room would sell to the public. "How's the Memory Ointment production line coming along?"
Tilly immediately straightened up and answered seriously, "It's already been calibrated and is ready for use at any time."
Only then did Locke give her a genuine look of approval.
According to his design, the Memory Ointment production line could churn out twelve vials per day—but only if he, as a First-Class Wizard Apprentice, personally handled the refinement.
After all, the difficulty of this concoction was simply too high.
If he refined it himself, he could produce about three vials in half an hour, though it would consume some of his energy and Mana.
But with assistants, he could produce six vials in the same time. Spending just one hour a day would yield twelve vials while conserving his energy and Mana.
After all, Locke was also overseeing three Plantations, the cultivation of the Magic Plant Emerald Iris Lichen, and the nurturing of Crystal Palmfire Lotus—all of which demanded a portion of his energy and Mana.
He also needed to reserve some energy daily for meditation, so the time spent refining potions had to be kept within reasonable limits.
Initially, Locke had set it at one hour per day, as he still had to allocate some effort to the treatment center and the refinement of Lesser Emerald Potion.
Meanwhile, a single vial of Contemplation Balm sold for about 15 Magic Stones, and his Memory Ointment could fetch the same price.
After deducting material costs, each vial would net him roughly 10 Magic Stones in profit.
His Personal Pharmaceutical Room could produce around 375 vials of Memory Ointment per month, translating to a monthly income of 3,750 Magic Stones.
This revenue from Memory Ointment would far surpass the combined earnings from Super Mandrake Vine and Wire Tendon Grass.
Moreover, if he increased his time investment, this income could grow even further—because the market demand was enormous, with every wizard apprentice having a need for it.
The only catch was that, in the early stages before establishing a foothold in the market, he might encounter some minor hurdles.
Locke knew that the logic behind selling magic potions was entirely different from selling magic plants. Magic plants were external objects, while magic potions were meant to be consumed.
The needs and concerns of the customers for these two were not the same.
Thus, when it came to selling potions, he was still a novice.
However, looking at the bigger picture, he had to work at the clinic for his mentor, brew Lesser Emerald Potions, continue developing magic plants to fulfill orders, pass exams in the process, participate in competitions held by the White Wizard Association, and still reserve energy and time for his Meditation Method.
So, the time he could allocate daily to making Memory Ointment was truly only one hour.
At most, once sales picked up, he could invest two hours a day, doubling the income from Memory Ointment.
This product had no shortage of demand—as long as he could establish the market and gain trust in the early stages.
I'm starting to understand why so many workshops need a large number of assistants. It seems my Pharmaceutical Room and Plantation will inevitably require more hires as they expand in scale.
That way, I'll be a First Class Wizard Apprentice with a sizable plantation and pharmaceutical room, managing multiple projects—quite a step up in status. Many senior First Class Wizard Apprentices can only work odd jobs at different workshops.
Others lack profitable skills, while I have too many ways to earn money. Locke rubbed the bridge of his nose. This way, my finances will balance out soon, and my deficit crisis is temporarily resolved.
Though my fixed monthly expenditure on the Meditation Method is 8,000 Magic Stones, my monthly income is roughly 8,500.
Barely enough to cover basic needs—still a long way from financial freedom. Becoming a Formal Wizard requires a considerable amount of resources. Otherwise, I'd have to grind it out like the other First Class Wizard Apprentices in the faction.
The key was that others had talent and could push themselves harder. But with his own aptitude… if he relied purely on grinding, his chances of becoming a Formal Wizard would be far too slim.
--Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LegendaryTL
Thanks!