Jiu Shen Vol 1 Chapter 5

Li Huo academy only had one holiday each year; it started in the beginning of summer and ended three months later with the coming of fall. The temperature in the Southern Fire Empire got really high, and it became too hot to do anything. Right now, it is still holidays for the school, so that’s why the campus is really empty; one rarely met another person. Originally, Ji Dong thought that with the new school year approaching, and the entrance exams, which Yang Bing Tian had mentioned, being around the corner, that more students would be gathering at the school. Unfortunately, Yang Bing Tian had also said that the entrance exam, which Ji dong really wanted to try, was currently put on hold so Ji Dong had to wait a bit longer if he wanted to get in, obviously those who pa.s.sed the exam held at the end of each term were allowed to enter the academy.

After running a few laps around the sports field, Ji Dong’s clothes were soaked in sweat. His body was still in a bad condition and even with the good nutrition he received, he’d still need more than just a few days to improve. No matter if it was for bartending or in order to become a Yin-Yang Wizard – which was something he did have interest in– he needed to train so that his own body strength could recover to that of an average person.

“School is going to start tomorrow. It’s been a long time since I have been so excited about something. A Yin-Yang Wizard… I wonder what sort of job it will be?”

While thinking, Ji Dong returned to the teaching block. Right after entering his room, he saw Yang Bing Tian sitting there waiting for him. His face bluntly showing that he couldn’t wait for his drink.

Yesterday, after everything was ready, he mixed another c.o.c.ktail for Yang Bing Tian. After drinking it, the att.i.tude of Yang Bing Tian became even more gentle towards him. A great person from Ji Dong’s former world once said,  ‘Actual practice is the sole criterion for judging the truth.’ After drinking the c.o.c.ktail made by Ji Dong, he began to think that agreeing with Ji Dong’s conditions was a brilliant decision.

“Ji Dong, what c.o.c.ktail are you going to mix today?”, Yang Tian Bing asked right after he saw Ji Dong returning. He immediately stood up and moved closer.

Ji Dong answers, “First I’ll take a bath, then I’ll mix a c.o.c.ktail for you.” After agreeing to something, he will never give less than he agreed to – this is Ji Dong’s integrity.

Yang Bing Tian urged, “Then please be quick.School starts tomorrow and I still need to measure your Yin-Yang attribute, and see which department suits you.”

“Yin-Yang attribute? What does that mean?”, asked Ji Dong curiously.

Yang Bin Tian replied, “Judging from the breath of your body, I think your nature is of the fire element. However to determine your element is a lot more complex, the fire element is divided into Yin and Yang, with one being Yin-fire and the other, Yang-fire.

“Both have their own traits. The branch of the fire element I am training in is Yang-fire. One who practices such is also called a Bing Fire Element Wizard.If they practice  Yin-fire, then they are called a Ding Fire Element Wizard.”

Ji Dong said, “Fine, then I will first take a shower.”

The more Yang Bing Tian explained, the more interested Ji Dong became  in Yin-Yang Wizards. He slowly and vaguely began to understand that the Yin-Yang Wizard’s attribute distribution system had something to do with Yin and Yang, the five elements, and the Ten Heavenly Stems from his former world.

He only knew a few things about the Ten Heavenly Stems, having never really studied them much. Bing and Ding were representative of the fire attribute, and, according to the common saying he remembered, that the south is the Bing Ding fire. He never knew however, that Bing-fire is also called Yang-fire, and Ding-fire is also called Yin-fire.

Outside of Ji Dong’s chamber is a bathroom. He took a quick shower, and changed into a new set of clothes. The moment he left the bathroom, he could see that Yang Bing Tian was already impatiently waiting for him, unable to sit or stand still. Ji Dong had seen this kind of situation many times in his previous life, and completely understood Yang Bing Tian’s eagerness. He immediately went behind the bar without saying a word.

The moment Ji Dong’s hand touched the shaker, he became  another person. What Yang Bing Tian admired most, is Ji Dong’s extremely high level of concentration while mixing a c.o.c.ktail.

Even though Ji Dong’s body condition is still a mere shadow of his former self, his level of c.o.c.ktail mixing is still as excellent as it was in the past, it has truly achieved a realm where one would never want to drink any other liquor ever again. Simply said, with the same materials, but with a different person mixing it, the taste would be completely different, even if they mix with the same proportion of ingredients.

Yang Bing Tian held his breath in order to not disturb Ji Dong while watching him completely focus.

The movements of Ji Dong were very quick as he doesn’t need to look, blindly reaching his hand out to the liquor cabinet behind him grabbing everything that he needs. As the liquor G.o.d of his generation, he can remember the placement of every liquor on the shelf after a single glance, never forgetting where they are.

2/10 of green fennel wine, 2/10 of bacardi rum, 3/10 of yellow gin…  in addition to that Ji Dong fills the final 3/10 with the flavouring and appetizing red wine vermouth, which he specially told Yang Bing Tian to buy. After placing all the bottles back in their original locations, he tosses the shaker up in the air – even Yang Bing Tian didn’t notice exactly when he covered the lid of the shaker.

What Ji Dong is using is an ordinary crystal shaker, this was also his favorite in his former life. Even though a crystal shaker easily breaks, it affects the taste of the c.o.c.ktail the least. Compared to a metal shaker, it is much better.

“Too bad, I don’t have ice.”, Ji Dong muttered to himself, lifting up both of his hands at the same time. One could only see the crystal shaker rolling back and forth on his palms, creating the image that his two hands were sticking to the shaker like magnets. While it is continuously rolled, Yang Bing Tian could clearly see that the color of the c.o.c.ktail inside started changing.

The whole mixing process was short, when the shaker finally dropped from the air, it  started to spin on the table like a gyroscope. Even though the crystal shaker was filled to the brim with liquor, the liquid  still displayed a spiraling state.

“Even though this kind of technique is quite simple, it can get rid of all the foam in the liquor, so it doesn’t even need to be filtered.”, Ji dong said while stopping the shaker with a single touch of his finger. Afterwards, he opens the lid and poured the c.o.c.ktail into a thickened top and bottom highball gla.s.s. The moment the last drop enters the gla.s.s, the whole c.o.c.ktail changed into an extremely bizarre color. At first, the most upper part became pink which slowly spreads downwards. As the color gradually became lighter, the liquor started to turn into a pale blue, becoming sky blue the moment it touched the bottom of the gla.s.s. This gla.s.s of liquor, was as if it was gradually formed by two colors.

“Mixing is an art.  When a bartender is mixing he will merge his emotion into the c.o.c.ktail. That’s why, if the bartender has a different mood, the same kind of c.o.c.ktail will have a different taste. Please try it, this c.o.c.ktail is called: Charm. Sip it in appropriately small portions.”

“Charm? What a charm!”, Yang Bing Tian gasped in admiration from the bottom of his heart, taking the c.o.c.ktail gla.s.s. After the first sip, he became  completely conquered by the charm of this gla.s.s of ‘Charm’. Immediately upon flowing into his mouth, the liquid turned slightly sour sweetness. With every sip he took the taste changed, just like the color previously did. The last drop of the blue liquor completely turned into an elegant, charming, uncommon texture of perfection. The combination between the dense but exciting taste of fennel oil and gentle juniper berries took Yang Bing Tian into paradise, making him feel as if he was walking on clouds.   

Ji Dong didn’t ask for a comment after Yang Bing Tian tasted the c.o.c.ktail and only sat down beside him, showing off the confidence of a Liquor G.o.d. Yang Bing Tian put away the highball gla.s.s with extreme reluctance. If Ji Dong had not sat down beside him, he would have had the urge to lick the cup clean with his tongue.

“Absolutely perfect. You were right, delicacy cannot be tasted too often, being able to enjoy this once a day is already my greatest satisfaction.” Barely regaining his senses, he looked at Ji Dong again, the wrinkles on Yang Bing Tian’s face already piling up due to a smile.

“Didn’t you want to test my Yin-Yang attribute?”, Ji Dong reminded him.

“Oh, I was too deeply immersed, I totally forgot about that”, Yang Bing Tian said with  slight laughter and embarra.s.sment. His wrist vibrated and one could only see a flash from the red gem on his bracelet. Immediately, a transparent thin rod appeared in his hand.

The rod were 13 inches long and seemingly made out of crystal, engraved with something looking like vine lines, ending on one side with a blue small ball and with a red one on the other.  

“Come, hold your left hand on the blue side and your right hand on the red side. Afterwards, relax your body.” Yang Bing Tian said, pinching the middle of the crystal rod as he handed it over to Ji Dong.

Ji Dong did as instructed and Yang Bing Tian pressed his hand onto Ji Dong’s forehead. Yang Bing Tian’s hand instantly transmitted a boiling flow into Ji Dong, which rushed towards every corner of his body. The burning feeling gave him unspeakable discomfort, while the crystal rod in his hand slowly started to change.

The blue color spread from the sphere his left hand was holding onto the other side, and the red colored side in his right hand did exactly the same, making them head to the center of the rod. Upon seeing that both colors spread at the same speed, Yang Bing Tian frowned involuntarily.

Quickly, the two color progressed towards the center, meeting exactly where the mark was engraved in it.

“This cannot be possible…”, Yang Bing Tian mumbled, taking back the hand which is was pressing onto Ji Dong’s forehead. He focused his eyes towards the center of the crystal rod and firmly stared at the point where the two colors met, with a completely black gaze.

Ji Dong returned the crystal rod to him, “I don’t mind if you call me a talent.” It’s rare to see Yang Bing Tian this startled, that’s why Ji Dong could not hold himself back from making fun of him with that sentence.

“Talent? You are a true talent! But a talent in being trash. After so many years of teaching, I’ve never seen someone as thoroughly useless as you.”

TL, it’s a pun by YBT, 天才 is genius/talented (natural born genius/talent), 天生的废材 is natural born useless person/talent.

“What did you say?”, Ji Dong became startled and asked. Even though this body is slightly weaker than normal, he cannot believe that he is useless trash.

Yang Bin Tian pointed at the crystal rod, “Look, you really are a fire element, this is a fire element testing rod, the color blue represents the Yin-fire and red represents the Yang-fire. If one insist to call you a talent, there is nothing wrong about that. A Yin-Yang balance, to actually have Yin-Yang balance! It’s the first time I see someone having a perfect balance between Yin and Yan in my sixty years of life.”

“What is wrong with a Yin-Yang balance? Isn’t that the healthiest for a person if one’s Yin and Yang are in balance?”, Ji Dong asked, who did not understand the problem..

Yang Bing Tian laughed bitterly, “That is not wrong, for normal people, a Yin-Yang balanced body would be a sign of a long life. You can’t even find one in ten thousands of people. But for us Yin-Yang Wizards, a Yin-Yang balance is even rarer than a pure Yin or a pure Yang. Do you remember? I told you that we will choose the cultivation method according to your Yin or Yang attribute. Generally speaking a normal commoner, has a Yin-Yang ratio of 6 to 4, either leaning more to the Yin-attribute or the Yang-attribute. However, we will not accept students with a ratio of 6 to 4, because if the discrepancy between the Yin and the Yang attribute is too small, it would be very difficult for them to condense the Yin or the Yang Crown. Additionally, even if they manage to condense the crown, they will have to face difficulties in their further advancement. . The ratio needs to be at least 3 to 7, which only raises the chance to condense a Yin-Yang crown to 30%. I for example, have a rare ratio of 2 to 8. With a yang attribute occupying the eighty percent, and only after continuous cultivation could I achieve today’s result.”

Ji Dong was a bit startled, “Then it means a pure Yin or pure Yang body has the best quality of becoming a Yin-Yang Wizard?”

Yang Bing Tian shook his head and answered, “That is not correct either, because the pure Yin and the pure Yang body are too extreme, the person will die before the age of 20, so they are not suited to train to become a wizard. Only if a male and a female who both have the opposite attributes undergo a Ying-Yang harmonization before the age of 20, will it be possible for them to train. But they can never separate from each other again or else they might suddenly die. Due to that, the best body for becoming a Yin-Yang Wizard is a body with a 9 to 1 ratio, with an extreme deviation towards one side. This is what we Yin-Yang wizard call an exceptional genius.”

Ji Dong took a deep breath and spokeslowly, “Then can you tell me, which attribute I should choose, if I want to train to become a Yin-Yang Wizard?”

The wrinkles on Yang Bing Tians face twitched, “It is difficult. Because you are innately Yin-Yang balanced, there is no way to train the superior attribute. If you really want to be a Yin-Yang Wizard, you will need to train the Bing and the Ding fire attributes simultaneously. Furthermore, you will need to maintain the Yin-Yang balance till the very end.

Even though I really wish to drink your c.o.c.ktails, I cannot lie to you. The cultivation speed of the 3:7 ratio is double than that of the 6:4, and that of the 8:2 is the double of the 3:7. People gifted with the attribute ratio of 9:1 have 8-fold of training speed in comparison with the 6:4 ratio. However, your ratio is 5:5, the cultivation speed of your single attribute is 1/16 of the speed of 9:1. If you train both simultaneously, your training speed will drop even further to 1/32.. Under this condition, you have almost no chance to condense the Yin-Yang Crown. To top it all off, a Yin-Yang Wizard who cannot condense the Yin-Yang crown before his or hers 18th birthday, won’t have another chance in their whole life.”

TL: I have replaced “3 to 7” with “3:7” so it’ll be less confusing to read.

“Thank you for telling me this.”, Ji Dong said, expressing respect in his eyes towards Yang Bing Tian for the first time. Yang Bing Tian is undoubtedly very dependant on the delicious c.o.c.ktails mixed by Ji Dong, but he still did not lie to him and told him the whole truth. He is indeed worthy to be a paragon.

Yang Bing Tian gently patted Ji Dong’s shoulder, “Actually, bartender is also a great profession, even if you don’t want to mix c.o.c.ktails for the common folk. I can introduce you to the Bartender’s Guild, with your level, you can surely shine in the world of bartenders.”

Ji Dong shaked his head, “Thank you for your good will, but I still want to give it a try.”

“Are you saying…?”, says Yang Bing Tian, widened his eyes. However, he could see the perseverance as solid as a golden rock within Ji Dong’s eyes.

“I want to try and become a Yin-Yang wizard. If I am not gifted, then I will compensate for it with 32 times the effort.” Since I have already come to this magical world, why not try to live a new way of life? Even if I fail, what is there to lose?