The Supreme Being Against Heaven

“Not bad… not bad, my disciple. Your Natal Flame has now advanced to the level of a ‘mid-grade spiritual vessel.’”
Tan Yun stared at the flame beneath the cauldron, his eyes blazing as if they could incinerate everything.
If it weren’t for the fact that it belonged to his beloved disciple—he would have already let the “Primordial Flame” devour it long ago!
Shen Subing was not surprised that her master could discern the level of her Natal Flame at a single glance. In her heart, this master of hers was like an unrivaled existence in the art of alchemy.
“Disciple thanks Master for the praise,” Shen Subing said sweetly.
“Alright, I will begin refining now,” Tan Yun said calmly. “Among the prescriptions I gave you, there are 3 types of ‘Restoration Pills.’ Have you memorized them all?”
“Master, this disciple can recite them perfectly,” Shen Subing replied with confidence.
“Good. Then I will begin with the first one. Watch carefully.”
As his words fell, she immediately sat cross-legged and closed her eyes. Her black hair fluttered gently as her spiritual sense spread out, enveloping the cauldron in an instant. Everything inside the cauldron appeared clearly within her perception.
When Tan Yun also released his spiritual sense to envelop the cauldron, Shen Subing suddenly sensed something. Her long lashes trembled slightly as doubt arose in her heart.
“Why is Master’s spiritual sense… only at Level 1 of the Soul Refinement Realm?”
As she pondered, the meticulous Tan Yun naturally guessed her confusion and spoke without changing his expression.
“Not long ago, I failed to break through my realm, causing severe damage to my soul. I fear it will take 3–5 years to recover.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Subing immediately felt guilty.
“It is all this disciple’s fault… Back then, when I didn’t see Master come, even after seeing the signal, I thought… you no longer wanted this disciple…”
“Haha, even if I saw the signal, I wouldn’t have known it was you,” Tan Yun chuckled lightly. “If I had known it was my beloved disciple, I would have come immediately.”
He paused briefly before continuing,
“Alright. If there is anything you don’t understand during the refining process, ask me then. I will explain it. As for other matters, we’ll talk after I finish refining.”
“Yes, Master,” Shen Subing responded before calming her mind once more.
“Whoosh—”
With a flick of his sleeve, 5 stalks of spiritual herbs emitting a faint blue glow, like azure clouds, floated into his palm.
He explained calmly,
“These 5 rank-8 spiritual herbs can replace the ‘Jade Revival Grass.’ They are called ‘Azure Cloud Soul-Evolving Grass,’ and their properties are nearly identical.”
“The Jade Revival Grass belongs to the water element in the theory of the 5 elements, specifically ‘Yin within water.’ As for the Azure Cloud Soul-Evolving Grass—the only difference is that it is ‘extreme Yin within water.’”
“Therefore, when using it as an ingredient to refine the ‘Restoration Pill,’ you must first heat the lower vessel inside the cauldron until it turns ‘white-hot’ before adding the herbs!”
As he spoke, Tan Yun controlled Shen Subing’s Natal Flame, pushing it to its limit beneath the cauldron.
Soon, the inner vessel of the cauldron, about 0.5 chi in diameter, was heated until it glowed red.
Shen Subing observed carefully with her spiritual sense. When she saw the black vessel begin to turn faintly white—
Tan Yun acted instantly!
The 5 stalks of Azure Cloud Soul-Evolving Grass were thrown into the cauldron in a flash!
“Sizzle—!”
A sharp sound rang out within the vessel as the 5 herbs slowly melted, transforming into a clear blue medicinal liquid.
3 days later…
“When the medicinal liquid begins to gently bubble, changing from blue to green, with a faint green radiance—add 20 stalks of ‘Heavenly Blood Flower,’ a rank-7 spiritual herb, and 36 stalks of ‘Jade Fragrance Azure Spirit Grass,’ rank-8, into it.”
Tan Yun explained in detail, while his hands moved skillfully, tossing each spiritual herb into the cauldron without the slightest error…
Over the next 2 weeks, Shen Subing truly witnessed her master’s alchemy skills—something that could be described as “transcendent, like that of an immortal!”
In just half a month, her master had added a total of 1,933 stalks of spiritual herbs from 16 different types into the cauldron.
Moreover, he could accurately describe the properties of each elixir, as well as even the slightest color changes when different essences fused into a medicinal liquid!
Such extreme meticulousness and precision filled Shen Subing with boundless admiration!
During this time, Shen Subing asked Tan Yun hundreds of questions—problems she had encountered while refining the “Soul Restoration Pill” that she had never been able to solve.
After listening, Tan Yun answered every single question without omission. His explanations were novel and incisive, allowing her to understand instantly and gain tremendous insight.
Everyone knows that in alchemy, aside from mastery of technique and precise control over the fusion of thousands of spiritual herbs—
the most important factor is the control of the flame’s temperature!
Because the temperature of the flame is the very core of the delicate balance required to fuse medicinal properties.
If there is even the slightest mistake—

If the flame is too hot, the medicinal properties will be burned away and destroyed, turning into spoiled liquid. Even if the refinement succeeds, it will only result in a “worthless pill.”

But if the flame is too weak, the properties of each herb will not fully fuse together, and the resulting pill will never reach the highest grade!

For this reason, there are 2 major taboos in alchemy:

First—never release the full power of the Natal Flame to its absolute limit.

Second—an alchemist must control a fire-attributed Natal Flame to refine the pill, while simultaneously releasing an ice-attributed Natal Flame to regulate and reduce the temperature.

Only by doing so—

can the flame’s temperature, the process, the techniques, and the fusion of medicinal properties complement one another and achieve “perfection.”

And to reach that level—

one must rely on long-term practice, enduring failure again and again to seize the chance of success… there are no shortcuts.

One must perfectly integrate both “theory” and “practical execution” in order to refine top-grade pills!

Saying it is easy—

but to truly reach the level of mastery… is far from simple!

However—

what left Shen Subing “so stunned she nearly stopped breathing” happened with Tan Yun!

Originally, she intended to offer her true ice-attributed Natal Flame to help him regulate the temperature—

but Tan Yun actually “refused”!

What she found unbelievable was that for the past 18 days—

Tan Yun had been releasing his Natal Flame at “full power” the entire time!

Using the highest level of heat to continuously refine pills!

Shock filled Shen Subing’s heart, and at the same time, her admiration for Tan Yun grew uncontrollably.

Another 10 days passed—

Shen Subing completely stopped observing and learning.

Because she clearly realized that her master’s alchemy method—something “never seen before” and “never heard of before”—was beyond her comprehension.

During those 10 days—

she simply kept her beautiful eyes open, staring intently at Tan Yun’s side profile, gradually falling into a daze without realizing it…

Through the thin veil like silk—

her gaze seemed to pierce through the fabric. Though she could only see a faint silhouette, it appeared strangely clear.

She looked at him again. Her fair hand clenched slightly, her lips pressed together, as if she wanted to say something—but hesitated.

“You’ve been staring at your master for 10 days… have you seen enough yet?”

Tan Yun’s voice suddenly sounded.

A trace of shyness flashed across Shen Subing’s beautiful face before returning to normal. She spoke softly,

“Master… this disciple has a question. Will you answer truthfully?”

“Go ahead,” Tan Yun said calmly while still controlling the flame.

“Master… how old are you this year?” Shen Subing asked gently.

“It’s a secret. I can’t tell you,” Tan Yun replied without hesitation.

“In that case…” For some reason, Shen Subing’s heart suddenly began to beat faster.

“In that case… Master, how old… do you appear to be?”

--Translated by likesnovel--