My Ultimate Sign-in System Made Me Invincible - Chapter 404: A Success

Chapter 404: A Success

The third attempt has been progressing smoothly so far. Each ingredient dissolved into the cauldron exactly as intended, their essences merging perfectly.

Liam’s movements were unhurried, deliberate, carrying none of the eager confidence that had characterized his first attempt or the tension of his second.

He knew what awaited him now. He knew the exact moment where everything could go wrong. But he also knew how to prevent it.

The first twelve ingredients integrated flawlessly. The mixture inside the cauldron swirled with perfect balance, yin and yang dancing together in equilibrium so precise it seemed almost crystalline in its structure.

The spiritual energy radiating from the liquid had grown dense enough that it created visible ripples in the air, like heat shimmer rising from sun-baked stone.

Liam reached for the crystal vial containing the Emperor Jade Toad Essence. His hand was steady as he uncorked it, no tremor of doubt or hesitation.

This was the moment. The ingredient that had ruined his second attempt. The point where everything would either come together or fall apart for the third time.

He tilted the vial, letting a single golden drop fall into the cauldron.

The reaction began immediately. Just as before, the mixture started to thicken, the liquid growing viscous as premature crystallization tried to force itself upon the incompletely merged essences. Liam watched it happen with calmness and focus, his mind tracking every shift in the mixture’s behavior.

He’d learned from the second attempt. The Emperor Jade Toad Essence didn’t just want to crystallize the mixture—it needed

to. That was its nature, its fundamental property.

Fighting against that nature was futile. Instead, he had to work with it, guide it, shape it into something productive rather than destructive.

Liam raised the flame’s temperature, but not in the desperate, reactive way he’d done before. This time the increase was planned, measured, timed to coincide with the exact moment when the crystallization began affecting the edges of the mixture.

The heat didn’t fight the thickening—it accelerated it, but evenly, forcing the entire mixture to condense at the same rate rather than allowing some parts to harden while others remained liquid.

The yin essence started to evaporate, pale mist rising from the cauldron’s surface. Liam had anticipated this too. The moment the first wisps appeared, he adjusted the white flame’s distribution, concentrating more heat at the bottom of the cauldron while cooling the upper regions. The temperature difference created a circulation pattern that caught the rising yin mist and pulled it back down into the mixture before it could escape entirely.

It was working.

The mixture began to truly condense now, through proper integration and not through forced crystallization of the second attempt.

The liquid grew thicker, denser, its spiritual energy compressing inward rather than radiating outward. The swirling motion slowed, became more deliberate, as if the mixture itself was reaching for a final form.

Liam maintained absolute focus on the flame’s temperature and distribution. Too hot and the yin-yang balance would shatter. Too cool and the condensation would stall, leaving him with a half-formed failure. He needed to hold this exact state for as long as the mixture required to complete its transformation.

Seconds stretched into minutes. The mixture continued its slow condensation, spiritual energy growing more concentrated with each passing moment. Liam’s perception tracked hundreds of minute changes simultaneously.

Then, finally, the liquid began to separate, as four separate masses formed within the cauldron, each one perfectly spherical, and each one condensing the same amount of refined essence.

The spheres solidified gradually, their surfaces taking on a lustrous sheen that seemed to glow from within. The spiritual energy that had been swirling throughout the mixture now resided entirely within these four perfect pills, contained and concentrated to a degree that made them feel almost alive.

Liam held the temperature steady for another full minute, allowing the pills to fully set, ensuring their structure was completely stable. Then, slowly, he began lowering the white flame’s intensity.

The pills had formed successfully. The refinement was complete.

Four Transcendent Recovery Pills rested at the bottom of the cauldron, each one roughly the size of a large marble. Their surfaces were flawless, without a single imperfection or irregularity, and they glowed with soft golden light.

But it was their grade that truly stunned Liam. Peak grade. All four of them.

In alchemy, pills were classified not just by rank but by grade—low, middle, high, and peak. Most alchemists, even experienced ones, produced primarily low and middle grade pills. High grade required exceptional skill and perfect conditions. Peak grade was considered a miracle, something that happened perhaps once in an alchemist’s entire career if they were extraordinarily talented and blessed by fortune.

Liam had just produced four peak grade Rank 4 pills on his third attempt at alchemy. Ever.

He stared at them for a long moment, processing what this meant. His Primordial Alchemy Sovereign talent was beyond overpowered.

While Liam was still thinking about the overpoweredness of his talent, the fragrance of the pills hit him.

The pills released an aroma so profound and invigorating that it transcended mere scent. It carried spiritual energy within it, thick enough that simply breathing near the pills would provide minor healing benefits.

The fragrance filled the storage room instantly, seeping through cracks around the door, flowing down the hallway like invisible water seeking the lowest point.

It smelled of vitality itself. It was like fresh spring rain on new growth, morning sunlight warming fertile earth, the first breath drawn after a long illness passes. The scent was simultaneously gentle and overwhelming, subtle and all-encompassing.

In the living area, Luo’s head snapped up mid-sentence, his words dying as the fragrance reached him. His eyes went wide with shock and awe. He’d never smelled anything like this, had never even imagined such a scent could exist.

“Master,” Luo breathed, his voice barely above a whisper. “Do you smell—”

“Yes,” Master Han interrupted, his own expression showing wonder despite his usual stoic demeanor. The old blacksmith straightened in his chair, his damaged leg momentarily forgotten as the fragrance washed over him. “This is… I’ve never encountered anything like this. What kind of pill could possibly produce such an aroma?”

Luo stood abruptly, his anxiety from earlier completely replaced by excitement and hope. “Does this mean—do you think Grandmaster succeeded?”

Master Han’s smile was warm and genuine. “I don’t see how he could have failed. Whatever he’s created, it’s clearly something extraordinary.”