Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1249

To observe means to watch.

To objectify one’s own body as if it were someone else’s, and to calmly analyze the flow and changes occurring within it. That is observation.

In modern terms, it can be called checking.

Whether the energy within the body is flowing well, whether there are any parts that differ from what was expected, or whether any new changes have occurred.

For a martial artist who has reached a certain level, observation is essential. It is about perfectly checking one’s own condition. Sometimes it is called meditation, and sometimes it is called wall-gazing.

The names may vary, but one thing that runs through all those names is ultimately a conversation. A conversation between one’s own body and mind. A meeting with one’s true self, not mixed with anything external.

If you take away the grand words, it’s like a doctor meeting a patient’s body through an MRI; a martial artist checks their own body and mind through observation.

And now, Kang Jin-ho was discovering something different from usual within his usual observation.

‘What is this?’

It was an observation he had started habitually. But in just one day, his body had clearly changed from yesterday.

The boundaries had blurred.

No matter how many times he checked, the result was the same.

The dantian [an energy center located in the lower abdomen].

The most important part for a martial artist, the biggest factor that distinguishes a martial artist from an ordinary person, the vessel that stores internal energy.

The boundary of that dantian was now subtly blurred.

‘Is this a demonic intrusion?’

Kang Jin-ho narrowed his brows and delved deeper within. According to any common sense he knew, this was not good news. The dantian should enclose internal energy with a firm wall.
The dantian should become even stronger as one’s skill increases and martial prowess rises.

The blurring of the dantian’s wall meant that martial prowess was deteriorating. It could never be good news.

But the strange thing was that while the blurring of the dantian’s wall was clear, he could not find any other abnormalities anywhere.

In other words…

‘My martial prowess hasn’t decreased, but only the boundary of my dantian is collapsing.’

It was a strange event.

From within Kang Jin-ho’s subconscious, which had checked his body several times, something slowly rose. Then, he quietly opened his eyes and looked down.

The lower abdomen where the dantian was located came into Kang Jin-ho’s view.

‘There are no particular signs of abnormality.’

No.

Rather, he felt an even stronger power than yesterday. It wasn’t an explosive surge of energy, but a subtle power that infused vitality into his body.

Something unexpected had happened, but his condition was good.

‘I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.’

He couldn’t make a hasty judgment because Kang Jin-ho’s martial arts were already on a different path from the martial arts of the past Demonic Heavenly Lord. Moreover, Kang Jin-ho’s martial arts were on a path that no one before had ever walked.

Although the history of the martial world was over a thousand years old, no one had ever tried to fuse orthodox and demonic martial arts during that long time. Or rather, there might have been those who tried, but no one had succeeded.

Even Kang Jin-ho hadn’t intentionally embarked on this path. So, he couldn’t know what would happen in the future.

The wall of the dantian was blurring. If this continued, the dantian would eventually disappear from within Kang Jin-ho’s body.

Was it a bad thing?

In the past, he would have said yes.

But the current Kang Jin-ho wasn’t particularly attached to such things. He had already seen it. Those who used magic and sword energy even without a dantian.

He had felt something while watching them.

In the end, even the Eastern martial arts that used the dantian were just one system for using martial arts. There were countless people in the world who used martial arts in ways different from the East.

Even after seeing that vast system, it would be foolish to cling only to the old system.

The dantian disappears?

Then he could just leave it as it is.

There was no reason not to take a new path just because it was different from the paths he had seen in the past.

Kang Jin-ho quietly closed his eyes.

A figure of a person appeared before him.

Arrogant eyes.

Demonic energy that seemed to be burning.

A domineering aura that seemed to crush everything in the world made the hearts of those who watched it tremble.

The Demonic Heavenly Lord.

Kang Jin-ho quietly stared at the figure that had appeared before him.

Demonic Heavenly Lord was Kang Jin-ho.

But he was also Kang Jin-ho and not Kang Jin-ho at the same time.

In the past, whenever Kang Jin-ho faced the Demonic Heavenly Lord like this, he felt crushed by the overwhelming power.

But now?

He could just be calm.

Even while looking at the figure of the Demonic Heavenly Lord glaring at him, Kang Jin-ho no longer wavered.

‘Not yet.’

Even he could feel that his power had not yet reached the Demonic Heavenly Lord. Hadn’t he clearly felt it in this battle as well?

No matter how much the Japanese elites used bombs and fought in a way that Kang Jin-ho had never experienced before, the Demonic Heavenly Lord of the past would have crushed them all without shedding a single drop of blood.

Yes, not yet. Kang Jin-ho had not yet caught up to the martial prowess of the past Demonic Heavenly Lord.

However…

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s lips curled up slightly.

Now he could see it.

The realm of the Demonic Heavenly Lord, which had seemed so distant before, now felt like it was not so far away.
Of course, catching up to that realm was still a long way off, but there was a huge difference between seeing the summit of a mountain and not seeing it.

If it was visible, he could reach it someday by constantly climbing. It was just a matter of time.

The figure of the Demonic Heavenly Lord gradually faded.

The important thing was just to reach it.

Living his third life, Kang Jin-ho had experienced many things and seen many things. Nevertheless, it was meaningless to simply repeat the methods of the past.

He had to find a better path, a better direction, and not just reclaim the past but surpass it.

Kang Jin-ho, who had released his cross-legged position, got up from the bed. His whole body was already soaked with sweat. There was no more turbid energy left to expel from his body, but sweat inevitably flowed after a proper cultivation session.

Kang Jin-ho, who had circulated his energy to blow away the sweat, stretched and opened the door.

Then, he made eye contact with Kang Eun-young, who was sitting on the sofa eating snacks.

“…Want some?”

“No. I’m okay.”

It was a strange thing.

Every time Kang Jin-ho saw Kang Eun-young, he doubted whether science was correct. According to science, the human body accumulates fat if it cannot consume more calories than it takes in.

But when he looked at Kang Eun-young, he couldn’t help but doubt that common sense.

Every time he saw Kang Eun-young, it seemed like she was eating something about half the time, but why didn’t she gain weight?

No, that wasn’t it.

She did gain weight.

If he looked at her slightly protruding lower abdomen or her slightly rounded shoulders, he could see that fat was steadily accumulating on Kang Eun-young’s body. But what he couldn’t understand was… if everything Kang Eun-young ate was converted into fat, Kang Eun-young should be rolling around instead of walking by now.

“What?”

“…No.”

Kang Jin-ho hesitated and asked.

“Aren’t you going to start working soon?”

“Yeah.”

“…Um, never mind.”

Kang Eun-young’s eyes sharpened.

“Are you trying to say I’ve gained weight right now?”

“This guy, you’re hopeless! What kind of world is it these days to be pointing things out!”

“I wasn’t exactly pointing anything out.”

Kang Eun-young glanced down and, feeling a pang of conscience, quietly put the snacks down on the table.

“I was going to manage it anyway. And me eating snacks and gaining weight right now is all part of the management.”

“There’s such a thing as that kind of management.”

“It’s true. I’m recording right now. When you’re recording, you need to have a bit of weight for the sound to come out better. Haven’t you heard of a resonance chamber?”

“Eun-young.”

“Yeah?”

“I haven’t heard that you have any singing talent in the first place.”

“…Come on. Let’s fight.”

“I’ll pass.”

As he chuckled and was about to go to the bathroom, Kang Eun-young grabbed Kang Jin-ho.

“Instead of picking on your well-prepared younger sister, how about you take care of your own work?”

“Me?”

“These days, my sister and the manager are dying, you know?”

“Manager? How do you know Lee Hyun-soo?”

“Lee Hyun-soo? Isn’t it Lee Hyun-joo?”

“Ah… that manager.”

Kang Jin-ho slightly frowned.

‘I need to raise Lee Hyun-soo’s position.’

Since Lee Hyun-joo became a manager after joining MK, it was impossible to distinguish them. It was already hard to distinguish them because their names were similar, but now that their positions were also similar, even Kang Jin-ho was confused at times.

“Are they very busy?”

“They seem to be completely out of it? Isn’t it a basic duty of a superior to understand and adjust the workload of their subordinates?”

“…”

“It’s hard to believe that you’re the superior of those sisters… but what can you do, that’s how things have turned out. So, I think it would be better if you took care of your own work first.”

“Um, I should.”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his head and went into the bathroom.

Kang Eun-young watched him and chuckled.

‘I really can’t get used to it.’

She had always thought that Kang Jin-ho was an amazing person. To her, Kang Jin-ho was always a proud older brother and someone she could trust and rely on.

He was a bit unique… no, very unique, but even considering that, wasn’t he amazing?

But recently, when she saw the things Kang Jin-ho was doing, she was more horrified than proud.

Kang Jin-ho, whom she had thought was an ordinary college student, suddenly stopped going to school and seemed to be doing something, and then suddenly built a building in the middle of Gangnam [a wealthy district in Seoul] and created a company.

And in that company, there were talented people who were working hard, even though Kang Eun-young, who was a layman in this field, could see it. Logically speaking, shouldn’t those people be working under Kang Jin-ho, not the other way around?

‘If he’s a figurehead, it doesn’t seem like it.’

Looking at how Choi Yeon-ha and Manager Lee Hyun-joo treated Kang Jin-ho, it was definitely not the case.

“…Can anyone really know?”

Usually, family members should know each other better than others, but Kang Eun-young felt that the more time passed, the more she didn’t know about Kang Jin-ho.

Even if she talked to her parents, they seemed to have given up halfway, so they weren’t much help.

“No matter how I look at it, he seems like a con artist.”

She looked suspiciously at the bathroom, but that didn’t mean she could know what that con artist(?) was thinking. Kang Eun-young sighed and shook her head.

“I guess I’ll have to investigate him once.”

As she was determined, Kang Jin-ho opened the bathroom door. It was a quick shower.

“Are you going to work?”

“I should.”

“Will you be there in the afternoon too? I think I’ll go to the recording studio and stop by in the afternoon.”

“I have an appointment in the afternoon.”

“Really?”

Kang Eun-young narrowed her eyes.

“Who are you going to meet again?”

“Someone who might solve the excessive workload you mentioned.”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.