Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 776

The demon soldiers, who had been detained in the Hongwang realm, were lined up on either side of the sofa in the center. Kang Jin-ho headed for the head seat on the empty sofa.

As Kang Jin-ho sat down, Lee Myung-hwan immediately took out a cigarette. Kang Jin-ho accepted the cigarette offered politely and put it in his mouth. Lee Myung-hwan lit it for him.

“Hoo.”

Kang Jin-ho took a light drag and slowly exhaled the smoke.

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“It wasn’t much of a hardship,” Lee Myung-hwan said, scratching his head awkwardly.

It would sound cool if someone who had really suffered said that, but Lee Myung-hwan really hadn’t suffered much.

“Really?”

“Yes. I remember that the Hongwang guy or whatever was furious and rampaging. Then, just when I thought he was about to pounce on me, I just lost consciousness.”

“Without even resisting?”

“Resist what? I should just die peacefully.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

Lee Myung-hwan smiled back and continued.

“When I regained consciousness, I was in a hotel room.”

“And your body was fine?”

“Yes. I was so fine that I was a little uneasy. Anyway, after that, I was just detained. The food was pretty good, the hot water was good, it was an environment where there was no room for complaints…”

Lee Myung-hwan joked.

“Of course, sharing a room with these dark guys was like hell, though.”

“I understand.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

It wasn’t a smile for show. He couldn’t help but smile.

These were people he had been forced to let go. The fact that they were alive and back in front of him made Kang Jin-ho feel good.

‘I’m greedy, too.’

It meant he didn’t want to let go of even these people. Kang Jin-ho, who chuckled lightly, opened his mouth.

“Anyway, you’ve been through a lot.”

“No, we didn’t do anything.”

“You didn’t do anything?”

Kang Jin-ho stood up. Then, he made eye contact with each of them.

“I survived thanks to you.”

“It’s embarrassing, but I survived thanks to you. Thank you.”

Kang Jin-ho slowly bowed his head.

Lee Myung-hwan was speechless at the sight.

It was Kang Jin-ho’s head, which he never imagined would ever bow. And that head was bowing to them, not to anyone else.

Lee Myung-hwan grabbed his knees.

He had thought there would be a reward. He was human, after all. He had done his part, so he thought he would receive a reward commensurate with it.

But this was something he had never expected.

“Please don’t do that.”

Lee Myung-hwan said, startled, as if shouting.

“It’s really embarrassing.”

“Is that so?”

Kang Jin-ho raised his head and smiled.

“We just did what we had to do. That’s what the martial arts we learned were for. Even if we hadn’t come back alive, no one would have blamed anyone.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Expressing more gratitude than that could be an insult to them.

“And it seems like there’s someone who’s burning up inside because we came back alive.”

“Surely not to that extent.”

“He seemed a bit displeased…”

Kang Jin-ho and Lee Myung-hwan looked at each other and laughed.

Lee Hyun-soo must be a little upset.

“For now, take a rest.”

“Yes, Lord.”

Lee Myung-hwan and the others got up. Just as they were about to go out, Kang Jin-ho called out to Lee Myung-hwan.

“Ah, and…”

“Yes!”

Lee Myung-hwan turned around and straightened his back. Kang Jin-ho said firmly.

“Get some rest quickly. There’s work to be done.”

“Is it going to be tough?”

“It won’t be easy.”

“You really make people work hard.”

“That’s going to be my specialty from now on.”

Lee Myung-hwan nodded and went outside. Kang Jin-ho stared at the door they had left through for a while, then rubbed his eyes.

He felt like he had lifted a huge burden off his mind.

After staring at the door for a long time, Kang Jin-ho made a phone call.

“Bring Jang Min in.”

“Demon Lord! Your subordinate has answered your call!”

Kang Jin-ho’s cheek twitched slightly.

He looked up at Lee Hyun-soo, who also shook his head with a troubled expression.

“It can’t be fixed.”

“It’s not a big deal, but it’s a terrible thing.”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his head, thinking that he had to do something about that way of speaking.

“Anyway, yeah. Sit down for now.”

“Yes.”

As the two sat down, Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Hyun-soo and said,

“We need to strengthen our forces.”

“I think so too.”

“It’s hard to look at it in the long term.”

“They won’t just wait for us.”

Lee Hyun-soo was reading Kang Jin-ho’s mind accurately.

“Do you think they’ll be quiet?”

“It’s impossible to expect that. They’ll be up to all sorts of tricks behind our backs, even if they don’t confront us directly. We’re already preparing for that.”

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho organized his thoughts and said,

“How long do you think they’ll hold back?”

“It depends on the situation. The reason they’re not confronting us right now is entirely based on the movements of the other three royal realms. It depends on how they move.”

“What’s your prediction?”

“They might use the full two years. But realistically, I’m expecting about half a year.”

“Half a year…”

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly. It was almost the same time he had been thinking of.

“The ones who can most reliably improve their martial arts within half a year are the children of the cult.”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun-soo also agreed with that. He had already witnessed with his own eyes how strong the demon soldiers had become in a short period of time. It would be foolish not to take advantage of this tremendous advantage.

However, there was one thing….

“But, Lord.”

“Hmm?”

“Are there no side effects of demonic cultivation?”

“There are.”

Kang Jin-ho said firmly.

“They become violent and impulsive.”

“Like those guys?”

“The cult members will probably be twice as bad as them.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s face hardened slightly.

“Then there’s the problem of control…”

“There will be.”

It was something Kang Jin-ho had also considered. Those who had learned the pure demonic cultivation that Kang Jin-ho had carefully selected from scratch could minimize the side effects, but Kang Jin-ho couldn’t be sure what the outcome would be for those who had been steeped in low-grade demonic cultivation.

He would try to minimize the side effects as much as possible, but in the worst case, it would be worse than not teaching them demonic cultivation at all.

“If we want to get stronger quickly, we have to take risks.”

“You are right.”

Lee Hyun-soo also agreed with Kang Jin-ho. To gain something extreme, you must take risks. Growing steadily without taking risks was not a bad choice, but they could not make that choice now.

Then, they had no choice but to take some risks.

“There are many of them. How will you proceed…”

“I’ll teach a small number of people who need to be taught first, and then they’ll become instructors.”

“Even if we mobilize all the elders, there are too many people to teach per person.”

“Not the elders.”

“Yes?”

“Use the demon soldiers.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes flickered slightly.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about it. It might be a reasonable approach. But….

“Will they accept that?”

“Of course, the demon soldiers have learned demonic cultivation and are much stronger than those riffraff. They’ll be able to match the elders, and after a little more time, they’ll become strong enough to ignore the elders. But… in the end, they’re outsiders, and they’re Koreans. Will they follow their words willingly?”

“There are countless ways to make them follow.”

With that one sentence, Lee Hyun-soo was convinced. If Kang Jin-ho said so, then it was so.

“But there’s no need to force them to follow. It’s not good to have too many. We’ll only take care of those who want to follow. We need to choose and focus.”

“That direction seems good.”

Lee Hyun-soo hesitated, about to say something. Kang Jin-ho noticed Lee Hyun-soo’s hesitation and waited quietly. After a little time, Lee Hyun-soo opened his mouth again.

“May I ask you something?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded, and Lee Hyun-soo took a slight breath and said,

“The demon soldiers originally practiced orthodox martial arts before learning demonic cultivation.”

“So?”

“Is that possible for everyone?”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

“I don’t understand what you mean? What are you trying to say?”

“I mean… is it unrelated to their martial arts level or anything like that? It was possible for them because their level was low, but if their level gets higher, it might be difficult.”

“There is an effect.”

“…I see.”

Lee Hyun-soo seemed a little disappointed, but Kang Jin-ho’s next words made him brighten up.

“But there’s nothing they can’t learn. They’ll see enough results.”

“Is that possible?”

“I said it’s possible.”

Kang Jin-ho shrugged.

“Originally, demonic cultivation is the martial art given to the cult members. And the primary purpose of religion is propagation. If someone who practiced orthodox martial arts converted to the demonic cult and couldn’t learn demonic cultivation, it would be a serious problem. That’s why most demonic cultivation is created based on incorporating other martial arts.”

Of course, not all of them were like that.

But those unique demonic cultivations or the highest-level demonic cultivations were not something to be spread anyway, so it didn’t matter.

“But why?”

“Ah…”

“You want to try learning it?”

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head.

“I don’t think it’s particularly meaningful. I thought about trying it before, but I don’t think it would make me any stronger if I learned demonic cultivation now. I’m learning other things separately.”

“Hmm, then?”

Lee Hyun-soo grinned.

“It’s not me, but someone else who wants to try learning demonic cultivation.”

“Someone else?”

Kang Jin-ho frowned.

Someone else learning demonic cultivation? There wasn’t really anyone who would….

“Who is it?”

“It is I, Master.”

The door burst open, and a huge figure came in….

Thud!

He hit his head on the ceiling as he came in.

His head, bent down as if creaking, contorted in a grimace.

“Why is it so low here?”

You’re the one who’s big.

Kang Jin-ho stared blankly at the situation before opening his mouth.

“You?”

“That’s right.”

“You want to try learning demonic cultivation?”

“That’s right. Is there any reason why I can’t?”

There was no reason why not.

Not for Kang Jin-ho. But there would be for Bator….

“Didn’t you hate demonic cultivation?”

“What I hated was not demonic cultivation, but demons.”

It’s the same thing.

What’s the difference?

Bator twitched his eyebrows and said,

“Master, I have admitted it.”

“Admitted what?”

“At this rate, I will never be able to reach Hongwang, even if I live my whole life.”

“I have lived with the pride of being a warrior of the plains. I believed that someday I would be able to become strong enough to defeat anyone, even if it wasn’t now. But now I have to admit it. I am not young, and the enemies are powerful. If I continue as I have been, I will not be able to improve any further. I will remain a loser.”

Bator shouted in a booming voice.

“If there is a breakthrough, there is no reason to hesitate. If I can get stronger by learning demonic cultivation, I will learn demonic cultivation. If I can get stronger by cutting off my legs, I will cut off my legs. Answer me, Master! Can I become stronger!”

Bator’s eyes, looking at Kang Jin-ho, were burning.

Looking at those eyes, he couldn’t give a casual answer.

Kang Jin-ho stared at Bator for a moment before opening his mouth.

“You will…”

A steady voice.

“Become stronger.”

Bator’s large mouth drew a soft arc.