Chapter 623: Companion

A cauldron was no different than any other ingredient. Its size, shape, and fabric led to unique behaviors that alchemists had to account for to limit variables.

Performing already perfected concoctions was the best way to spot such differences, and Liam had the ideal tool for the task. His rank 3 venom stashes always increased, and he would never run out, so he didn’t hesitate to burn it with abandon.

The silver cauldron revealed its secrets as concoctions followed. Liam didn’t aim for success. He purposely engaged in practices he knew would fail to familiarize himself with all the item had to offer.

That phase ended when Liam retrieved a yellow pill from the cauldron. It was one of his usual rank 3 Poisonous Cloud pills, but it somehow felt stronger despite Liam having made no changes to the recipe.

’I want ten of these,’ Liam thought as he stored the pill and placed his hand on the cauldron. Its silver surface was still cool despite the many consecutive concoctions, confirming every conclusion he had reached.

In a word, the silver cauldron was reliable, like an unshakable, unbreakable foundation on which entire mountains could be built. It was a trustworthy companion Liam could bet his life on.

Such unshakability had given Liam the confidence to pour more and more Qi into the concoctions. He trusted the cauldron could handle it, resulting in the slightly better Cloud pill.

The veiled similarity with Uriah also didn’t escape Liam. It was a vibe rather than an outward feature, but Liam felt it, or rather, he perceived the emotion the maker had poured into the cauldron.

Uriah was a husband, a father, and a Patriarch. He took his role as a pillar for his family and force with utmost seriousness, affecting the very purpose of his existence, and that trait had leaked into his creation.

Liam already liked Uriah, and the feeling inevitably skyrocketed at those findings. Being with the silver cauldron was almost reassuring, as if he instinctively knew he could always rely on it.

That wasn’t all Liam felt, and the thought put a bittersweet smile on his face.

’Master has one in the Sect, too,’ Liam thought, experiencing both happiness and longing.

Liam had reached his great Master’s level, and he had now gained a similar companion. He wouldn’t dare to call himself his equal, but he had factually become the alchemical powerhouse that Horace Rauret was in the Pale Moon Sect’s neighborhood.

Of course, Liam wasn’t the only one going through a rollercoaster of emotions. If anything, the audience was hit far, far harder.

Rachel was the only one completely in the know. Uriah and Amber had already faced Liam’s stashes of rank 3 venom, but he somehow had even more. Besides, they had never seen him concocting.

The underlings were elites, so they couldn’t deny what they had seen, no matter how unbelievable it looked. However, Caspar was the worst off among the audience.

Liam somehow had enough rank 3 ingredients to waste them without any hesitation. His performance was also awe-inspiring, to the point that the audience forgot to breathe.

Caspar instinctively abandoned any lingering anger. At once, he knew he was a child in front of a real master, outclassed in every way, and the greatness Liam had shown even prevented him from feeling bitter.

Caspar could only feel lucky to have witnessed such a spectacle and to be alive at all.

Naturally, the audience didn’t distract Liam. Even the troublesome knowing glances Rachel and Amber exchanged couldn’t pull his brain out of alchemy.

With familiarity achieved, Liam moved to the main task. The Aetacia region’s political situation hinged on it. Failure could bring dangers on the level of the Church’s purge, but he felt no pressure. He couldn’t, and the matter went beyond the clear-mindedness alchemy demanded.

The Heavenly Blossom was a difficult concoction. Its rank 3 version was even bound to feature variables Liam had never faced, but the math was heavily in his favor.

Most ingredients were rank 2, and even those Liam was unfamiliar with were replacements that would behave similarly to the ones he had long since mastered.

The rank 3 Brown Heart was the greatest variable, both because of its power and unique shape. Liam didn’t have the actual ingredient after all. He had obtained a close substitute by harnessing the necessary properties and enhancing them through the spiny mice’s concentrate.

Completed products featured far more variables than ingredients, but Liam had been the one to make it. He knew how it behaved better than the intended rank 3 Brown Heart.

The equation was basically almost complete already. Liam only had to perform a few tests with the abundant batches of rank 2 ingredients to fill the remaining gaps in his knowledge before moving to the actual concoction.

There was no warning or announcement. Amber hadn’t bothered with those, and Liam definitely didn’t. The thought didn’t even cross his mind. That was no educational demonstration after all.

The audience had simply been granted the privilege of watching Liam do his thing, no more, no less.

It took a while, literal hours. Rank 3 concoctions used more, stronger ingredients, taking more time to refine and mix, leading to a longer process overall.

Liam spent most of that time utterly still, at least on the surface. His careful management of the alchemical flame only involved Qi, with no flashy gestures.

Nevertheless, the performance remained compelling, silent, uneventful, but meaningful, aided by the wine the audience sipped without making a sound or diverting their gazes from the stage atop the staircase.

Even after Liam slapped the cauldron’s side, stood up, and finished reviewing the yellow pill he retrieved, the audience didn’t move, seemingly in a daze, caught in a dream that knew no beginning or end.

However, Liam was done. His brain switched gears when he confirmed the object in his palm was indeed a rank 3 Heavenly Blossom, and looking down at the dazed audience made him blink in surprise, with Caspar being the worst offender.

"Don’t you want your arm back?" Liam asked, tilting his head in confusion.