Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 434

Kang Jin-ho slowly opened his eyes.

‘Hmm.’

It felt like he had slept for a couple of hours. Looking out the window, the darkness was still thick. It was still too early to wake up, but Kang Jin-ho didn’t hesitate to throw off the blanket and get up.

Then, he sat cross-legged.

After quietly closing his eyes and circulating his energy once, Kang Jin-ho opened his eyes and calmly observed his body.

‘Not bad.’

He was getting stronger.

Somewhat surprisingly so.

Even though he was retracing a path he had already walked, there were countless factors that could have caused setbacks.

First of all, Kang Jin-ho’s current body was not the one he used in the past. The body that Kang Jin-ho had reached the pinnacle of martial arts with was completely different from his current one.

In terms of conditions, the current one was better than before. In the past, Kang Jin-ho, who was born in China, had congenital disabilities and a small physique. However, obtaining his current body did not necessarily work only as an advantage.

A change in body meant that everything changed.

The sense of distance changed, and the pathways of energy flowing through the body changed. Everyone is the same, yet everyone is different. These subtle differences didn’t pose much of a problem at first, but as he progressed to higher levels, they were causing a great sense of incongruity for Kang Jin-ho.

He had to use his energy differently than in the past, even though it was the same.

The second problem was that this world was not very suitable for gathering internal energy. There was a decrease in the efficiency of gathering energy compared to the past, and Kang Jin-ho couldn’t dedicate his time to training himself as fully as he used to.

Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat and twisted his neck left and right.

Crack, crack.

As his neck loosened up, he shook his hands and feet. With the sound of his bones cracking, his stretching was complete, and Kang Jin-ho smiled contentedly.

‘Even so, I’m getting stronger.’

The experience of having reached the pinnacle of martial arts once was pulling him up again, despite all the handicaps. Could it be compared to leveling up a character you’ve already raised from scratch?

No, it was more than that.

It wasn’t just about shortening time and increasing efficiency; Kang Jin-ho was rebuilding his body from the ground up.

Even though he had reached the pinnacle of martial arts in the past, there was a time when his level was low. Naturally, there would be parts he had missed.

Muhak [Martial arts] was like building a building; once something was built, it was impossible to tear it down and rebuild it. Once it was up, that was it.

The foundation work that he thought was solid in the past looked clumsy enough to be unsatisfactory when he reached the pinnacle of martial arts later. It was natural, and it was something all masters had to go through.

But the current Kang Jin-ho could avoid such trial and error.

He wasn’t fixated on immediate progress; he was building and building the foundation. Like laying the groundwork for a massive structure that wouldn’t collapse even after a thousand years.

‘Will I even be able to use it?’

He had a feeling that he had overdone the foundation work. He wondered if he could even restore the martial prowess he had in the past in this world, but he had been laying the foundation with an eye on something beyond that. Perhaps it was a waste of energy.

But it was something he had to do.

Quickly recovering his past martial prowess was important, but moving forward was also important. It might be a futile dream of reaching an unattainable place, but he had no intention of settling for the past.

As he managed the demonic energy swirling around his body, Kang Jin-ho fell deep into thought.

‘Is it really because I’ve done it once that I’m getting stronger at this speed?’

There was no room for disagreement.

The reason Kang Jin-ho was getting stronger at an excessive speed was thanks to his experience of reaching the pinnacle of martial arts in the Central Plains [a historical region in China]. It was natural that he was getting stronger at a speed that couldn’t be compared to those who had to learn martial arts from scratch.

But he couldn’t shake off a nagging feeling.

Even considering that, he felt like he was crossing walls too easily. Without a single block. Despite the huge handicap of the disharmony between his mind and body, he was getting stronger without a single setback.

‘I need to make some time.’

If he could accurately grasp the state of his body just by slightly observing it, then many masters wouldn’t have suffered from Qi deviation [a dangerous imbalance of energy] or lived without knowing their own shortcomings.

He needed time to carefully examine whether there were any cracks in each brick of the building he had built.

Kang Jin-ho put on his clothes and went outside.

“Huh…”

Kang Jin-ho, who came outside, shivered.

“Oh? Oppa, you’re up early?”

“What are you doing?”

“Chi-maek [Chicken and beer].”

Kang Eun-young, holding a chicken leg in one hand and a can of beer in the other, sat on the sofa and smiled brightly.

“At this hour?”

“There’s no time to argue. The event ended in the evening.”

“Hmm…”

Well, Kang Eun-young often left the house in the evening and returned in the early morning, so in a way, this time would be like the evening for other people.

“Eun-young-ah.”

“Yeah?”

Looking at Kang Eun-young, who tilted her head with chicken grease on her lips, he felt strangely frustrated.

Do the fans who follow her around because they like her know that she’s like this?

Well, these days, it’s an era where idols being down-to-earth or quirky is also seen as a charm, so…

“You’ve gained weight?”

“Hiiiik!”

As soon as Kang Jin-ho finished speaking, Kang Eun-young jumped up from her seat and started running towards the mirror in a hurry. Kang Jin-ho, who snatched the chicken leg falling to the floor, sighed.

“My, my belly!”

“Didn’t you say you had to eat like a rabbit to maintain your figure a while ago? Of course you’ll gain weight if you eat chicken and beer like this.”

“I’m just too stressed…”

Kang Eun-young sat down on the spot with a dazed look.

“No way. If this goes on, a close-up of my belly will go viral. The fans will collapse, the stage will collapse, and the country will collapse.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

Kang Eun-young’s body had already been taken care of by Kang Jin-ho, so it was unlikely that her figure would collapse. Kang Jin-ho’s energy was removing excess fat to maintain the best physique.

Yet, her belly was protruding like that…

‘How much did she eat…’

He had been noticing her munching on something every time he saw her lately, and Kang Jin-ho was once again realizing the obvious truth that even with martial arts, one could not ignore the laws of nature.

“Oppa!”

“What now?”

“I… I need to lose some weight!”

“Oppa! Please! I have to perform again tonight.”

“Wear thick clothes.”

“If I wear thick clothes and perform in this summer heat and collapse, will you take responsibility for your sister crossing the river Styx [a reference to death]?”

“Let’s try to cover it up.”

“Don’t do that. Huh? You can do it, Oppa. Give me a massage! You made it disappear last time.”

“Too bothersome.”

“Should I wake up Mom?”

Kang Jin-ho flinched as soon as the word ‘Mom’ came out.

“Hehehe, what would Mom say if she saw Oppa going out this early in the morning? She’d probably give you a barrage of nagging, right?”

“How petty.”

“It’s not petty, it’s wise. Now, before I wake up Mom, quickly get rid of my belly fat…”

“What do you want to wake me up for?”

But Kang Eun-young’s threat was easily broken. Perhaps she heard the commotion, Baek Hyun-jung yawned and opened the door.

“Don’t you guys ever sleep? At this early hour… Jin-ho, where are you going?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Yes. I have somewhere to go.”

“At this early hour?”

“It takes a while to get there. If I leave a little later, the traffic will be bad, so I’m going early.”

“Where are you going?”

Kang Jin-ho scratched the bridge of his nose.

This, I need to explain well…

“It’s called the Korean Martial Arts Assembly…”

“Huh? Korean what?”

“Martial Arts Assembly.”

“That sounds like some kind of cult. What do they do there?”

“It’s like a gym, a gym.”

It was the moment when the Korean Martial Arts Assembly, which had dominated the underworld of Korea with its history and tradition, was instantly reduced to a cult-like gym. If Bang Jin-hoon knew, he would shed tears of blood, but Kang Jin-ho had no confidence in explaining the status of the Korean Martial Arts Assembly to Baek Hyun-jung.

“Why are you going to that gym-like place?”

“I’m going to work out a bit.”

“Work out?”

“Yes. I’ve been at home for a while, and I feel a bit sluggish, and I have some juniors to work out with there.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

His mother nodded.

“Mom, that’s a lie.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Where does that old man have any juniors?” Baek Hyun-jung looked at Kang Jin-ho with suspicious eyes. Cold sweat ran down Kang Jin-ho’s spine.

“I, I do have some juniors. They’re just people I met there.”

“You’re not doing anything weird, are you?”

Perhaps because his credibility had hit rock bottom, even things he could never have heard before were coming out.

“I’m just going to work out briefly and help out with some things there.”

“Okay.”

Baek Hyun-jung nodded.

“Okay. It’s better to exercise than to just stay at home.”

“And Jin-ho.”

“Yes.”

Baek Hyun-jung said with a slightly awkward expression.

“Your father scolded me a bit.”

“Huh?”

“Your father got very angry because I was nagging at our son who had been busy and was just taking a few days off.”

“R, really?”

Kang Jin-ho was taken aback for the first time in a while.

He hadn’t shown any signs of that at all, so why did he do that? That wasn’t what he wanted when he said that…

“After listening to him, your father was right. I was being short-sighted.”

“No, Mother.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

It was natural for parents to have expectations for their children. It wasn’t something she needed to apologize to Kang Jin-ho for.

“Okay. Our son is doing so well, I guess I was a little anxious.”

“Anxious?”

Baek Hyun-jung glanced at Kang Eun-young and then turned her head.

“It’s not something to say in front of a child.”

“Why am I a child!”

“Be quiet!”

Kang Eun-young, who was instantly crushed by her mother’s force, squatted down on the spot and started scratching the floor.

“Okay, Jin-ho. I always believe in you, Jin-ho. You can do whatever you want. You know what I mean, right?”

“Yes, Mother.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

It had been a long time since he felt this way.

“So, don’t keep wandering outside…”

“And don’t keep trying to go out from early morning…”

“You’re not a high school student, why do you keep trying to wander outside? Why?”

Kang Jin-ho, who had nothing to say, blinked his eyes and then lowered his head.

“I’ll be back.”

As Kang Jin-ho hurried outside, Kang Eun-young yelled at Kang Jin-ho’s back.

“Take away my belly fat before you go!”

“Come here! You little brat! Why are you asking your brother to take away your belly fat! That’s why you eat chicken and jokbal [pig’s trotters] every night! I told you to stop stuffing your face!”

“I’d rather give up my life than give up chicken!”

“Oh yeah, okay. Let’s see. Come here!”

“Oppa! Oppa! Ah, no! My humiliating photos will go viral! Oppaaaa!”

“Go on, Jin-ho. I’ll take care of this brat.”

“…Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho, who came out and closed the door, looked up at the dark sky.

‘Home is more like a battlefield than outside.’ A place that should be full of comfort and peace.