Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 503

The martial arts manual that Kang Jin-ho had passed on was now in Lee Hyun-soo’s hands. Despite his busy schedule, Lee Hyun-soo translated the manual and distributed it to those who wished to learn the martial art.

Of course, there was a process of sending the translated manual back to Kang Jin-ho for corrections, but that was to be expected.

The conclusion drawn from this series of events was singular.

“You can’t just leave us to our own devices.”

Martial arts manuals were like grasping at clouds. If one could perfectly master martial arts just by reading a manual, the current situation wouldn’t have arisen. The martial arts of the Demonic Cult hadn’t been completely lost with Kang Jin-ho’s death. Their martial arts, accumulated over hundreds of years, had been meticulously documented in manuals.

However, there were limits to learning martial arts through manuals alone, and as the top crumbled, so did the bottom. This process repeated itself, and eventually, the Demonic Cult’s martial arts became distorted and lost in practice.

Without someone to provide guidance through accurate interpretations of the manuals, the martial arts could not be perfected.

Kang Jin-ho understood this point clearly. He hadn’t become strong on his own. If he hadn’t had a master to establish the concepts and foundations of martial arts for him, Kang Jin-ho would never have reached the supreme position of the Heavenly Demon Lord, no matter how talented he was.

So, he was somewhat prepared for this, but…

“…I don’t understand a single thing.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed softly.

‘Did I know it would be this bad?’

The people filling the lecture hall all wore expressions that seemed to say, ‘Seriously, what are we supposed to do with this?’ Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Myung-hwan, who was sitting in the front, and asked,

“What’s the problem?”

“…Problem? I think you should be asking what isn’t a problem. Putting everything else aside, I don’t even know how to learn this. I don’t understand the first part.”

“Why not?”

“Isn’t the first part about circulating energy?”

“That’s right.”

“I don’t understand it from there. It says to take the energy absorbed from the outside to the Baihui point [the crown of the head] instead of the dantian [an energy center located in the abdomen].”

“Hmm…”

“How are we supposed to do that?”

“Huh?”

“…I’ve never circulated energy like this in my life. No matter how hard I try, the moment I absorb external energy, my body automatically gathers it in the dantian.”

Kang Jin-ho was faced with an unexpected problem.

It was like teaching someone how to run fast, and they were asking how to take their first steps. Kang Jin-ho unconsciously covered his face with his hands.

‘Where do I even begin to teach them?’

It was understandable to some extent.

In terms of versatility, Demonic martial arts were divided into two categories. The orthodox method (正法) was for those learning Demonic martial arts from the basics, and the unorthodox method (邪法) was for those learning from an intermediate level.

To pursue martial arts and doctrine, it was right to learn the orthodox method, but the Demonic Cult, which had no choice but to actively accept foreigners and converts to overcome persecution, needed a martial art that could be easily learned by those newly converted to the cult.

That was how the unorthodox method was created.

The unorthodox method was designed to allow those who had already mastered other martial arts to easily learn Demonic martial arts. As a result, it lacked depth compared to the orthodox method, and it had quite a few side effects. However, it was a necessary evil and had to be used.

Most of the Demonic martial arts manuals that caused problems in the martial world were these unorthodox manuals. Those who had reached a certain level could not learn the orthodox methods.

Fortunately or unfortunately, those who had come to learn from Kang Jin-ho were weak enough to learn the orthodox method. That was why he had given them a suitable orthodox manual.

‘Even if it’s difficult, martial artists from the Central Plains wouldn’t have trouble understanding the concept.’

The world was bound to progress, but the theory of martial arts seemed to have regressed. Or perhaps the Korean martial arts world had always been hopeless.

“So, the problem is that you can’t even pull the energy up to the Baihui point, right?”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly.

‘It’s understandable that it’s difficult.’

He had taken the theory for granted, so he hadn’t thought there would be a problem, but now that he thought about it, it could be difficult for them.

Demonic martial arts were different from orthodox martial arts.

Those who practiced orthodox martial arts believed that Demonic martial arts were a path to becoming a demon, so they were different from orthodox martial arts, but in reality, their methods were different.

While typical orthodox martial arts absorbed external energy and stored it in the dantian, Demonic martial arts stored energy in the dantian but absorbed energy through the Baihui point instead of the abdomen.

The Baihui point was the crown of the head. It was a method of pushing the external energy absorbed by the whole body to the crown of the head and sending it down the spine in a straight line to the dantian.

This was a method that was possible because the Demonic Cult was a religion.

All martial arts in the Central Plains were based on Buddhism. Martial arts in the Central Plains were spread from India, and Indian martial arts originated from Buddhism. Therefore, orthodox martial arts aimed to strengthen one’s own body and eventually achieve enlightenment.

Training was also a form of asceticism, and the goal was to raise one’s level through asceticism and eventually ascend to immortality or nirvana, so stability was prioritized.

But the Demonic Cult was different.

Unlike Buddhism, where the ultimate goal was to become a Buddha, the Demonic Cult, who called themselves the Holy Cult, aimed to become one with the Sacred Flame. They believed that the Sacred Flame was present in everything in the world, and that in order to fully understand and accept the Sacred Flame, they had to send energy to the Baihui point.

There was a judgment that it was unnatural and inefficient to circulate the absorbed energy through the Baihui point instead of sending it directly to the dantian, but what they wanted was not efficiency but the Sacred Flame, so that was the path they chose.

And that was where an unexpected thing happened.

The method of expanding the Baihui point and directly absorbing energy into the Ren and Du meridians [two of the eight extraordinary meridians in traditional Chinese medicine] and storing it in the dantian was several times more efficient than absorbing energy through the body’s meridians. Contrary to expectations.

Thanks to this, Demonic martial arts showed excessively rapid progress compared to orthodox martial arts, and those who saw it gave it the infamous name of ‘Death Art’.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

The Baihui point was the crown of the head. And the crown of the head was where the brain was located. The method of absorbing energy through the Baihui point resulted in extreme efficiency, but it inevitably stimulated the brain.

The creators of Demonic martial arts wanted to connect with the Sacred Flame through the Baihui point, but the method of unrefined energy penetrating the brain caused serious side effects.

Violence increased, and those with inhuman personalities were mass-produced.

The turbid energy accumulated in the abdomen only damaged the body to some extent, but the turbid energy accumulated in the head paralyzed the human mind.

As a result, countless slaughterers and demons wielded Demonic martial arts.

To eliminate such side effects, they supplemented and supplemented again, and finally completed a Demonic martial art that minimized side effects, but by then, the image of the Demonic Cult had already become synonymous with demons.

‘That’s an old story.’

Kang Jin-ho shook his head to clear his mind.

‘Then, if I guide their energy in this way…’

At that moment, Lee Myung-hwan began to grumble.

“Hey, from what I’ve heard, other people master Demonic martial arts easily. They get a manual and master it in no time, but why are you giving us this?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Myung-hwan with a bewildered expression.

“If I were the only one who couldn’t master it, I’d think it was because I was stupid, but it’s not just me who can’t master it. It doesn’t make sense that so many people can’t master it. Are you making fun of us?”

“That’s right!”

“Give us something proper.”

Veins popped out on Kang Jin-ho’s forehead.

His mind contained hundreds of Demonic martial arts. None of them were inferior to the low-level Demonic martial arts that were circulating in the streets.

And yet, he was being ignored like this.

He had put so much thought into choosing a suitable and powerful Demonic martial art that they could learn…

The ‘Flame Soul Divine Art (炎魂神功)’ that he had given them was a divine art that, if it had been released in the Central Plains in the past, would have caused countless sects to fight each other in a bloody battle to obtain it. And yet, this divine art was being treated like this.

It was like putting a pearl necklace on a pig. If you had a treasure but didn’t have the eyes to recognize it, it was useless.

If it had been the Kang Jin-ho of the past, he would have ended the situation by saying, ‘Then give up,’ but that was impossible for the current Kang Jin-ho.

The current him was not the Heavenly Demon Lord of the past.

He was not a tyrant who believed that he could solve everything with his own strength, no matter how incompetent his subordinates were. If there were those who couldn’t keep up, he had to coax and persuade them to lead them.

“…So, that part is difficult, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll help you.”

“Huh?”

“Stand up. I’ll show you how it’s done.”

“Ah!”

Lee Myung-hwan jumped up from his seat.

“…But are you going to use that as an excuse to torment us?”

“I’m just going to guide your energy. I’ll show you how it moves when the energy enters, so next time, just follow along.”

“Ah, I understand!”

“Come here and stand with your back to me.”

“Yes.”

Lee Myung-hwan happily ran to Kang Jin-ho and turned around. Naturally, he was now standing in front of everyone.

‘It’s a little awkward…’

But if it was to receive guidance, he could endure this much awkwardness.

Kang Jin-ho took a deep breath and placed his hand on Lee Myung-hwan’s back.

No emotions, no emotions.

This was definitely not an action taken because he was angry that his Demonic martial arts were being ignored. Absolutely not. Everything was a necessary process to help them learn martial arts correctly.

A subtle smile formed on Kang Jin-ho’s lips.

Crack, crack, crack, crack.

The sound of all the bones in Lee Myung-hwan’s body breaking as Kang Jin-ho’s energy penetrated his back echoed clearly throughout the lecture hall.

Everyone was horrified and stared at Lee Myung-hwan.

Lee Myung-hwan couldn’t even scream. But his mouth, which was wide open as if it would tear, his tightly closed eyes, and his slightly twisted limbs that seemed to curl up, were telling how much pain he was feeling right now.

“Take the absorbed energy… pull it up to the Baihui point…”

Woo woo woo.

Lee Myung-hwan’s body trembled with a low sound. His mouth was drooling as if he was feeling an indescribable pain.

“From the Baihui point, send it straight down to the dantian!”

Boom!

A loud explosion erupted from inside a person’s body.

Kang Jin-ho had already removed his hand from Lee Myung-hwan’s body, and Lee Myung-hwan was lying on the spot, convulsing.

“Don’t forget this feeling. There’s a lot of turbid energy accumulated in your meridians, so it will be a bit painful at first, but it will get better if you repeat it. Then…”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head away from Lee Myung-hwan and looked at everyone.

“Next.”

A cold silence filled the lecture hall.

Everyone realized that they had messed with the wrong person today.