Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 438

“Why is that guy like that?”

“I don’t know? I’m not sure why, but he seems out of it.”

“That’s strange.”

Lee Myung-hwan looked at Chun Tae-hoon with a puzzled expression.

‘This is really weird.’

The Chun Tae-hoon he knew was a cynic. No matter what you said, he was always a bit critical and negative. But because his skills were undeniable and he was so level-headed, even his cynicism seemed cool. He was the type of person who was very polarizing, but Lee Myung-hwan at least thought Chun Tae-hoon was somewhat admirable. If someone without skills acted like that, he would scoff, but Chun Tae-hoon was someone with proven ability.

Although his brilliance had faded with the appearance of the monster Kang Jin-ho, Chun Tae-hoon was still someone who deserved to be called a genius. Wasn’t he practically Bang Jin-hoon’s hidden trump card?

If Lee Sung-hwi was the representative of the old dual-leader system, then Chun Tae-hoon was undoubtedly the representative of the current Bang Jin-hoon system.

Kang Jin-ho?

He couldn’t really be seen as someone under Bang Jin-hoon’s influence.

But now, that Chun Tae-hoon was sitting there blankly, as if his soul had left his body.

“Did something happen?”

Of course, something must have happened. Chun Tae-hoon wasn’t the type to act like that for no reason.

What really puzzled Lee Myung-hwan was that Chun Tae-hoon wasn’t the type to show it even if something had happened.

“Isn’t he just sulking because Kang Jin-ho told everyone to gather?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“It could be, why are you getting so angry?”

“It’s because you’re talking nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense… From Chun Tae-hoon’s perspective, he has reason to feel a sense of loss. He thought he was Bang Jin-hoon’s crown prince, with a clear path ahead, but now that Kang Jin-ho is training others, it’s natural for him to feel deflated, right? Who knows? If we learn from Kang Jin-ho, we might even surpass Chun Tae-hoon.”

Lee Myung-hwan, who was about to retort, closed his mouth and shook his head.

‘This is ridiculous….’

Of course, the anticipation of learning from Kang Jin-ho was immense. It was so immense that his heart felt like it would burst with excitement.

That day.

After Kang Jin-ho single-handedly destroyed the Yeongnam Association, Lee Myung-hwan became a staunch follower of Kang Jin-ho more than anyone else. For Lee Myung-hwan, who always believed that a martial artist should prove themselves through strength, Kang Jin-ho was like an embodiment of strength that had suddenly appeared in the world.

‘It was terrifying.’

Even now, he couldn’t forget the image of Kang Jin-ho sweeping away the martial artists of the Yeongnam Association like fallen leaves.

Strength, ruthlessness, and ferocity.

It was the ideal image of a martial artist.

Normally, seeing someone of a similar age surpass you would cause jealousy or competitiveness, but with Kang Jin-ho, there was no jealousy.

At least, there had to be some chance of competing for jealousy to arise.

What that different level of strength brought about was not jealousy, but awe.

And the thought that he might be able to unlock some of the secrets of that different level of strength by learning from Kang Jin-ho was making Lee Myung-hwan excited.

And it seemed like the others felt the same way.

“But what… what are we going to learn?”

The people gathered in the grand hall had faces that were half excited and half worried.

There is a time for learning.

When a martial artist who has completed their martial arts takes on a disciple, it is usually when they are no older than ten years old. It is difficult to expect much progress from those whose bones have hardened and who have already accepted other martial arts.

However, the people gathered here, while relatively young within the General Assembly, were too old to learn something new. No matter how skilled Kang Jin-ho was, it would not be easy to lead them to a new level.

That’s why this was ridiculous.

No matter how skilled Kang Jin-ho was, it was almost impossible to close the gap between them and Chun Tae-hoon.

Because they were martial artists.

There might be differences in methods and efficiency, but there was no one here who hadn’t trained themselves to the limit.

It wasn’t difficult to quickly raise a beginner, but it was extremely difficult to take a skilled person one step further. The higher you go, the bigger the difference a single sheet of paper makes.

“Even if it’s Kang Jin-ho…”

“Huh?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Lee Myung-hwan shook his head.

There was no need to voice such thoughts. It would only crush the morale of those who had gathered with excitement, and there was no way that Bang Jin-hoon or Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t have thought of what he was thinking.

Even if they didn’t become dramatically stronger, just providing a decent training method or adjusting their direction would be a great help.

Creak.

At that moment, the door opened and Bang Jin-hoon entered. Despite the arrival of the Assembly Head, people’s gazes were not directed towards him. Everyone’s eyes were on Kang Jin-ho, who followed Bang Jin-hoon in.

“Tsk.”

Bang Jin-hoon clicked his tongue, realizing this fact.

“I’ve become a second fiddle because of Kang Jin-ho.”

“It must be a matter of popularity.”

“Huh, what are you talking about? I’ve built up so much popularity. Everyone likes me.”

“I’m sure they do.”

“……You don’t believe me.”

“I believe you.”

“It doesn’t seem like you do?”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled lightly.

‘I have no choice but to believe him.’

If you thought about what this fussy man had done, you couldn’t help but believe him.

Even though Bang Jin-hoon had built up his power, his influence didn’t even reach half of the General Assembly. In the midst of that, Kang Jin-ho’s intervention quickly brought together the Lee Joong-gul faction, and not long after, he devoured the Yeongnam Association, a force that surpassed the General Assembly.

Considering that the power Bang Jin-hoon had built up in the Yeongnam Association was a haphazard expansion to oppose Lee Joong-gul, Bang Jin-hoon’s perfect power in the current chaotic zone called the General Assembly would be less than 10%.

Even though he had Kang Jin-ho backing him, it was no small feat to lead the General Assembly without any issues with such a small force.

‘I wouldn’t even dare to try.’

What would have happened if Kang Jin-ho had stepped forward?

It probably would have stabilized. And quickly, too.

Even when he rose to the position of the Demonic Cult Leader [a powerful martial arts sect leader] in the past, there were many who resisted the fact that he, an outsider who was not a pure Demonic Cult member, dared to take the lofty position of the Demonic Cult Leader.

Kang Jin-ho ruthlessly suppressed and eliminated those who resisted, using the justification of legitimacy. The Demonic Cult was washed away with blood, and those who survived had no choice but to bow their heads before the name of the Heavenly Demon Sovereign [a title for the Demonic Cult Leader].

It was a very clean and effective method, but it was a method that could not be achieved without excessive bloodshed.

But Kang Jin-ho didn’t know any other way. He didn’t know how to persuade those who didn’t listen to him.

That’s why Kang Jin-ho acknowledged Bang Jin-hoon.

This man’s leadership was at a level that Kang Jin-ho could not dare to approach. Kang Jin-ho’s method ultimately showed its limits, didn’t it?

The fact that he was able to lead this huge coalition called the General Assembly, where so many people were mixed together, without shedding a single drop of blood, was enough to prove that Bang Jin-hoon was an amazing person.

‘I’m lucky.’

Kang Jin-ho sincerely thought that he was lucky.

Unlike the past, when he had to fight alone, this life had given him a family and Park Yu-min. At the right time, Jo Gyu-min appeared, and Bang Jin-hoon appeared.

It was something that had never happened in the past.

If there had been just one more person in the past who helped him without considering their own interests, Kang Jin-ho’s life might have been different.

Whether it was because he was lucky, or because Kang Jin-ho was trying to become someone who could reach out to others, unlike the Heavenly Demon Sovereign, he didn’t know.

“What are you thinking about?”

“It’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head lightly, dismissing his thoughts, and took a deep breath.

“Are these the people?”

“It’s impossible to teach everyone at the same time. You know that, right?”

“Yes.”

If you were to base it on the people who belonged to the General Assembly, not just the people who were gathered here, there were over ten thousand martial artists in the Korean peninsula. It was physically impossible for Kang Jin-ho to teach all of them individually.

First, it was right to gather the people he could teach properly, and then use those people as instructors to teach others.

“This is the cut-off line. It won’t be of much use to teach anyone older than this age group.”

“Hmm…”

There were small problems and big problems.

The small problem was that teaching a different martial art to those in their forties could actually be harmful, and the big problem was that they would never try to learn Kang Jin-ho’s martial arts.

The pride of those who had walked one path for decades was beyond what ordinary people could imagine. Some of them were constantly innovating and trying to find new directions, but such people were rare.

“I guess the only way is to show them results.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I want to force them to learn if possible, but I don’t have that much authority yet.”

Bang Jin-hoon’s tone sounded bitter.

“I think you’re doing great just by doing what you’re doing now.”

“Thank you, even if you’re just saying that. Actually, I’m… really going through a lot.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled lightly at Bang Jin-hoon’s jest.

The only way was to show them how much stronger those who learned from Kang Jin-ho became.

In that sense, the people gathered here were extremely important.

“Then, please speak.”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho stepped forward and looked around at the people.

‘Is he the same person?’

At this moment, Lee Myung-hwan was feeling an extreme sense of incongruity.

His appearance was no different. Even his expression wasn’t that different.

But the Kang Jin-ho they were seeing now and the Kang Jin-ho of that day were completely different, to the point where they could be considered different people.

The current Kang Jin-ho was like a college student stepping forward to prepare for a lecture.

Of course, he had a striking appearance, so he couldn’t be called ordinary, but if you took that away, he didn’t look much different from the college students you would see passing by.

‘A college student, huh…’

Lee Myung-hwan laughed at his own thoughts.

The memory of that day was still vivid in his mind, so what kind of nonsense was this?

The person in front of them now was someone who, if he wanted to, could turn everyone gathered here into a bloody mess in the blink of an eye.

And he would do it while smiling like a demon.

As Lee Myung-hwan tightened his loosening tension, Kang Jin-ho slowly opened his mouth.