Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 461

“The martial way is very simple.”

Kang Jin-ho’s words were utterly calm, a fact that only served to frustrate Lee Myung-hwan and the others even more.

“Someone once explained it like this: the martial way is for training oneself, not for defeating others. Defeating others is secondary,” he stated.

Just moments ago, the person who had dared to throw a punch at Kang Jin-ho was sent flying, crashing to the ground with a sickening thud after a swift blow to the jaw.

Thud!

It was almost unbelievable how a human body could make such a sound upon impact.

“What do you think?”

It wasn’t a question that required an answer, and even if it were, no one present could have mustered a response. The mere thought of speaking was enough to imagine Kang Jin-ho’s fist lodging itself in their necks.

“Bullshit.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled, a sound that sent shivers down their spines.

“Ugh…”

His scoff was followed by a chorus of groans. The people sprawled on the ground were trembling, unable to even attempt to rise.

“If you want to cultivate yourself, you can believe in a religion. If not, you can lock yourself away in the mountains and reflect on yourself. These days, there’s yoga and many other good things. But why bother learning a skill to kill people while trying to cultivate yourself?”

‘How am I supposed to know that!’

That was the honest sentiment of everyone listening to Kang Jin-ho. Even if his words held some truth, at that moment, they all wanted to flip him the bird. It was only natural, as who would appreciate a sermon while being beaten to a pulp?

“In the end, martial arts have only developed to kill or subdue people. You have to be true to that purpose. You just need to think about ‘how quickly and perfectly you can tear off a neck.’ Other secondary things are useless.”

Kang Jin-ho’s gaze settled on the last person standing before him: Lee Myung-hwan, who was pale and utterly defeated, his fighting spirit completely extinguished.

‘What am I supposed to do?’

He had already been thoroughly defeated by Kang Jin-ho once before. But that was different. When he was subdued in that interrogation room… no, the interview room, he had been caught off guard. He had naively believed that if they fought properly, he might not win, but he could at least put up some resistance.

But now?

‘Bullshit.’

What if they fought properly? Right. If they fought properly, this is what would happen.

Lee Myung-hwan forced himself to look at his colleagues sprawled on the ground.

As soon as they had entered the outdoor training ground on the mountain next to the headquarters, Kang Jin-ho had uttered only one thing: “Come at me.”

It was sudden and absurd, but everyone understood the meaning behind those words. And then, a small war had begun.

The result? The result was what was now lying on the ground.

Despite attacking with all their might, the elites of the headquarters, who had been carefully selected, couldn’t even touch Kang Jin-ho. They had experienced the gap they had only vaguely imagined with their entire bodies, and the shock was greater than Lee Myung-hwan had anticipated.

‘Is the gap really this extreme?’

Kang Jin-ho wasn’t even using a sword. They couldn’t even touch Kang Jin-ho, who wasn’t using a sword. The mental shock was probably greater than the physical shock, preventing those on the ground from getting up. Lee Myung-hwan felt like collapsing even though he hadn’t been hit yet.

Kang Jin-ho quietly opened his mouth.

“Why do you want to become stronger?”

“I heard an interesting story before. Was it because you wanted to survive?”

‘That… that wasn’t me who said that.’

That was what Choi Jin-young had said. That bastard is lying there right now, isn’t he?

“That’s a lie.”

“…No, I…”

“Because you want to kill them.”

Lee Myung-hwan shut his mouth at Kang Jin-ho’s words.

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

“Because you want to win, because you want to feel superior, because you want to satisfy that childish satisfaction of being the strongest.”

“Sometimes, being childish is the answer. You can’t say it out loud, but people want to express their missions or goals with grand words. But the actual goals they have are quite base and simple.”

Kang Jin-ho whispered into Lee Myung-hwan’s ear.

“You just want to win, don’t you? You want to win against someone stronger than you. And you want to shout that you’re the best. You want people to recognize you and praise you, don’t you?”

He wanted to say no, but he couldn’t speak. It wasn’t wrong. His true feelings, hidden deep within various reasons, were now being exposed by Kang Jin-ho.

“It’s not bad.”

Kang Jin-ho’s voice dug into Lee Myung-hwan’s ear like that of a devil.

“Being honest isn’t bad. Some people might find it uncomfortable, but it’s okay to be honest once in a while, right?”

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho grabbed Lee Myung-hwan’s neck and lifted him into the air.

“Ugh…”

Lee Myung-hwan grabbed Kang Jin-ho’s arm, trying to shake off the hand that was gripping his neck, but Kang Jin-ho’s arm, as hard as steel, didn’t budge. The tremendous force tightening around his neck made him feel like he would lose his breath at any moment.

“But you can’t even dream of it like this. You’re nothing but trash.”

Thud.

When Kang Jin-ho let go, Lee Myung-hwan fell to the ground. He hadn’t taken as much damage as the others, but Lee Myung-hwan couldn’t even dare to attack Kang Jin-ho. Kang Jin-ho, as if he wasn’t worried at all, left Lee Myung-hwan alone and looked around.

Those who were sprawled out were staring at Kang Jin-ho with dumbfounded eyes.

Kang Jin-ho frowned at the sight.

“You are weak.”

“You’re so weak that it’s painful just to look at you. Honestly, I think it’s a bit ridiculous that you call yourselves martial artists. In the world I was in, people like you wouldn’t dare call themselves martial artists. You were just third-rate thugs.”

He hadn’t yet determined whether the martial arts of this world had regressed or if this place was particularly weak, but either way, the fact that they were weak didn’t change.

“But I’m in a position where I have to make you stronger. Like recycling trash. I filtered out all the trash that seemed unusable, but I still can’t see an answer.”

Kang Jin-ho looked down at Lee Myung-hwan.

“I remember now. You said you wanted to be like me.”

“…Yes.”

“Should I answer honestly?”

“That’s impossible.”

Kang Jin-ho’s voice fell on Lee Myung-hwan like a bolt of lightning.

“It’s not just because you’re trash. The martial arts you’ve learned have clear limitations. It’s impossible to reach my level with those martial arts. At least you need a shovel to dig a reservoir. A spoon won’t do it.”

Lee Myung-hwan’s eyes shook. Then what have they been doing all this time?

“Besides, you’ve practiced those martial arts for too long. It’s impossible to learn new martial arts and start over now. You might become stronger through effort, but at best, you’ll only reach the mid-level. You can’t go beyond that. Because it’s twisted from the beginning.”

Kang Jin-ho’s voice didn’t contain a single trace of emotion, because it was the truth. Kang Jin-ho had already grasped their martial arts. He had also completed an analysis of the traditional martial arts that Bang Jin-hoon had obtained and the martial arts they were learning. The conclusion was one: full of holes.

A martial art with holes like a cheese eaten by mice. That was the reality of the martial arts they were learning. It might not have been like that at first, but many parts had been lost in the transmission process.

Kang Jin-ho, who could infer the original form of what they had learned through the martial arts of the Central Plains [a region in China known for its rich martial arts history], knew this fact, but those who had believed that these martial arts were complete from the beginning could not have noticed it. It was a problem created by the difference in perception and level.

Then, is restoration possible? It might be possible, but restoring those martial arts and returning those who had trained based on the broken martial arts to normal were separate issues. That was impossible even for Kang Jin-ho.

“The conclusion is simple.”

Kang Jin-ho said, looking at everyone.

“It is absolutely impossible to become as strong as you want through normal methods. That’s impossible no matter who comes, not just me.”

One word stuck in Lee Myung-hwan’s ear.

‘Normal?’

Then, does that mean it’s possible through abnormal methods?

“It seems you understand what I’m saying.”

Kang Jin-ho, noticing that the eyes of those watching were starting to shine, curled up the corners of his lips.

“There’s one way: making a deal with the devil.”

Lee Myung-hwan, and most of the people there, could immediately understand what Kang Jin-ho was talking about. A deal with the devil. For a martial artist, it meant only one thing: demonic cultivation [a type of martial arts that uses dark or evil energy].

“You have to choose.”

Kang Jin-ho put his hand on his waist and took out a book.

“Whether you will become stronger by any means, or whether you will uphold your noble ideals. I’m sorry for forcing you to choose, but this is a problem that only you can choose.”

Kang Jin-ho threw the book on the ground.

“This is what you call demonic cultivation.”

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the book.

“If you learn it, you will become stronger. But you will become a demon. You know what it means to become a demon. I won’t force you. The choice is yours. Those who don’t want to learn it can go down and join the main group.”

“I’ve given you the choice. The decision is up to you.”

Kang Jin-ho left those words and turned around. Lee Myung-hwan’s intense voice came from behind Kang Jin-ho as he was about to go down the mountain.

“Wait a minute!”

Kang Jin-ho frowned and turned his head.

“The choice is up to you…”

“That’s not it… is this the only copy?”

“Huh?”

Lee Myung-hwan said in an annoyed tone.

“Everyone here has already seen you use demonic cultivation, so why are you making such a big deal out of it? We all came here expecting it. That’s not the problem… is this the only copy? There are over a hundred people here, how are we supposed to take turns looking at it? Don’t you have a copy or something? No, what age are we living in… don’t you have a PDF file or something?”

“P… PDF?”

“Aish.”

Lee Myung-hwan, thinking that there was nothing more to get from Kang Jin-ho, picked up the book.

“I need to copy and bind this, right? Make sure the text doesn’t get cut off in the middle.”

“Should I go to the accounting department?”

“Can they bind it there? We need to go down the mountain to a print shop.”

“Then I’ll take a few people with me.”

“Do that.”

Kang Jin-ho had no idea what they were talking about. What are they going to do with the secret manual? Cut it and copy it? These guys are going to cause trouble. When he was in the Central Plains, he would have treated that book like a sacred object, wrapping it up tightly so that it would never be damaged…

“What about the original? Should we give it back, or should we give you a copy?”

Kang Jin-ho was speechless at Lee Myung-hwan’s confident question.

Kids these days are scary. Really….