Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1156. Tight on Time (1)

Demonic cultivation destroyed the humanity of the cultivator mastering it.

It was not originally designed to do that, of course. Still, it was impossible to overlook the fact that it caused the cultivator's personality to warp in a negative direction during the cultivation process.

Obviously, things were no different in ancient Zhongyuan, too.

When he was in the demon cult, Kang Jin-Ho didn’t get the impression anything was particularly wrong. Then again, you wouldn’t think anything was amiss with having three eyes after getting used to living in a world of three-eyed people.

However, now that he looked back... Even he had to admit that the demon cult back then was an organization of batsh*t weirdos and lunatics.

If any hardened criminals serving life sentences in jails in the modern era were unleashed into the demon cult back then, they would’ve been reformed into saints in no time at all! Even Confucius and Mencius would’ve selflessly praised them for being moral and kinder than anyone.

That was how violent and abnormal the demon cult was like back then!

Kang Jin-Ho could more or less sympathize with the current-era Chinese martial artists and their contempt for the demon cult. After all, they must’ve experienced some insane stuff at the hands of demonic cultivators in the past.

At least the modern-era demon cult believers were fortunate enough not to inherit any complete demonic cultivation. Because this kept their cultivation realms pathetically low, but it also helped preserve their humanity.

What if the demon cult managed to protect its cache of demonic cultivation methods? Either the Chinese martial society got destroyed, or the demon cult would've been wiped out. The odds favored the latter option coming true. Overwhelmingly so.

Ironically, then, the demon cult managed to survive to this day thanks to failing to pass down its inheritances properly and causing itself to weaken over the years.

However, what if things had been the other way around?

Once one’s demonic cultivation deepened, one’s vicious nature would inevitably become more and more prominent.

Even Kang Jin-Ho couldn't do anything about that. He tried to amend demonic cultivation as much as possible to negate the negative effects, but demonic cultivation was called demonic for a reason. It could never be the same as orthodox cultivation methods.

As such, something like the current situation was inevitable.

BOOM!

One of the Demon Flames got punched by Kang Jin-Ho, and he slammed into the floor at a frightening speed. The impact force must’ve been considerable, but he still jumped right back on his feet like a rubber ball and pounced on Kang Jin-Ho again.

“Kuaaaaaaahk!”

Not only that but he even roared like a crazed wild beast, too!

The sight of the Demon Flame charging in with blood pouring out from their nose and mouth invoked the image of a crazed evil spirit. And an ordinary person might have a heart attack from all the scary crimson light gushing out from this Demon Flame's eyes, too!

However, what really mattered in this situation was not his outer appearance. No, it was his stupendous killing intent unleashed toward Kang Jin-Ho, one sharp enough to prick his target’s skin like hundreds of needles!

The Demon Flames obviously knew who Kang Jin-Ho was. They also knew this was a sparring session, nothing more. Yet they still unleashed a scarcely believable amount of killing intent and bloodlust!

Right about now, their minds must be dominated by the singular thought of killing Kang Jin-Ho no matter what.

“Hmm...”

Kang Jin-Ho easily deflected the incoming punch, then grabbed the Demon Flame’s face. As he did so, the corner of his lips curled up unknowingly.

This thick, skin-crawling killing intent! He used to experience this sensation quite often in the past, but not so much during the modern era. This killing intent, uniquely thick and heavy due to demonic cultivation, led to goosebumps breaking out on Kang Jin-Ho’s skin.

“Kuh... Kkuwaaahk!” 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The Demon Flame cried out in pain at the immense pressure about to crush his face.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at his captive, his smirk already gone. “How clumsy!”

He slammed the Demon Flame into the ground.

Baaaaaang!

The Demon Flame bounced off the ground and flew back up in the air in a twisted pose before crashing back down.

“Kkururuk... Kuruk...”

Kang Jin-Ho studied the Demon Flame spitting bloodied foam and whimpering on the ground before scanning his surroundings. No one was left standing now.

“Kkuwuuuh...”

“Euh, wuuuh...”

The training area was filled with pained moans and whimpers, with the acrid stench of blood adding spice to this banquet of noises.

Kang Jin-Ho was about to say something, only to stop himself. He silently touched his face and discovered traces of blood on his fingertips.

It seemed someone managed to brush past Kang Jin-Ho’s face just now.

“Hmm...”

Has anything like this ever happened before?

No, of course not. Which meant today would be the first time the Demon Flames managed to inflict a flesh wound on Kang Jin-Ho.

While smirking weirdly, he licked the blood off his fingertips.

‘Looks like everyone here has lost most of their minds.’

He expected this outcome to some degree after noticing the density of the demonic qi gushing off these Demon Flames. However, they proved to be far more vicious during an actual battle than he had bargained for.

In the past, it was possible to estimate a demon cult believer’s martial realm through the density and amount of demonic qi gushing out of them. However, doing so proved a little trickier with the Demon Flames.

Maybe this was an unintended side effect of Kang Jin-Ho modifying the demonic cultivation.

Whatever the case might be, this was not a bad outcome if these people wanted to keep living in the modern era. Blending in with the regular people would be near impossible if they continued to leak out so much demonic qi, after all!

However, before all that...

“Tell me, what do you think a demonic cultivator is?”

The whimpering Demon Flames lying on the ground forced themselves to look up at Kang Jin-Ho. Their eyes were still filled with venomous desire to kill, and their expressions were still distorted from pain, but it was easy enough to see their determination not to miss a single word coming out of Kang Jin-Ho's mouth.

“A demonic cultivator is someone who uses demonic cultivation,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

What an obvious thing to say that was. However, what he said next changed that definition to something less obvious.

“But, what about you? Are you using demonic cultivation? Or is the demonic cultivation using you?”

“...”

The Demon Flames couldn’t readily answer. They knew what Kang Jin-Ho meant, after all, and that firmly clamped their mouths shut.

Unleashing the demonic qi at full power led to their minds snapping, their ability to think rationally gone. Entrusting their entire being to demonic cultivation was the only way to enhance the demonic qi circulation to the max while increasing their destructive power. But doing so also morphed them into mindless beasts.

When in that state, they were neither martial artists nor... Nor anything, really.

“I should commend you for crawling up this high, at least,” said Kang Jin-Ho with a deep grin.

He wasn't being snarky or giving the Demon Flames a lip service here.

These martial artists had exceeded Kang Jin-Ho's expectations. A few times in the past, the Demon Flames failed to train properly during Kang Jin-Ho's absence, so he had been wondering if another stern lecture was in order today.

Thankfully, though, the previous round of nagging seemed to have worked, judging from how much progress these people had achieved.

‘If it’s like this...!’

It was safe to assume that these Demon Flames had surpassed the average demonic cultivators of ancient Zhongyuan.

Even though the demonic cultivation provided was a high-tier method no average demonic cultivator back then could get their hands on, and Kang Jin-Ho personally acted as their teacher, this result couldn’t have come about without the Demon Flames pushing themselves to the breaking point.

Of course, that shouldn’t be everything in this equation.

Kang Jin-Ho scanned the Demon Flames. “Getting stronger isn’t important.”

The Demon Flames stared back at him in confusion.

A man who prioritized getting stronger above all else said something that didn't suit his beliefs!

“Of course, attaining strength is great. However, if the cost of that strength is you losing your mind and devolving into some beast, is it really worth it? Will you still choose that path?”

“...”

The answer was fairly obvious, wasn’t it? No one here would choose that.

Their reason to become stronger was as straightforward as it could get. They wanted to ‘enjoy’ life.

It was pointless to simply acquire strength. The Demon Flames endured this hellish pain and threw their everything into training to become powerful experts so that they could enjoy the life of the strong.

Since that was the case, what was the point of acquiring strength this way if no shred of ego was left in their minds at the end of this journey, and they couldn’t even recognize themselves anymore?

“You must’ve felt it during battles you’ve fought. The moment you realized crossing this line would grant you even greater strength, but doing so would cost you your mind.”

“...Yes, sir.”

“Don't cross it so carelessly,” said Kang Jin-Ho, his voice firm. “Peak demonic cultivation is akin to seeking enlightenment. Neither too much or too little will help you. You must constantly stride the thin line separating humans from beasts. Those who unhesitantly cross this line will eventually lose themselves to madness and bloodthirst. I'm sure you can guess what will happen after that.”

Everyone slowly nodded in silence.

They had heard countless times the dangers of demonic cultivation. One would become a lunatic with their reasoning paralyzed beyond recovery and thirst after bloodshed and murder.

Kang Jin-Ho clenched his fist. “Rely on it so you can squeeze out as much power as possible without losing your mind. That's the goal.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan raised his hand.

“Speak.”

After getting Kang Jin-Ho’s permission, Yi Myeong-Hwan swallowed the blood pooling in his mouth and forced his voice to come out. “I... We understand what must be done, but it’s too difficult, sir. What should we do?”

“Originally, this quandary would have been yours to solve. Demonic cultivators of the past got persecuted and held in contempt precisely because they failed to solve it.”

“Oh...”

“Everyone believes they won’t get swept up in the madness brought on by demonic qi. Just like you. But demonic cultivation can turn you into a madman in the blink of an eye even if you’re a peerless genius or born with a kind heart.”

“...”

“The first thing you must do is discard that arrogant mindset of you being good enough not to get affected by the madness. And to be acutely aware of you turning into a mindless beast even at the slightest mistake.”

Kang Jin-Ho shrugged casually.

“And... There are no other answers besides those two.”

“...Oh.”

“Until now, that is,” Kang Jin-Ho smirked deeply. “There might be one other potential solution.”

The Demon Flames blinked their eyes. “Sir?”

“You can thank the... difference in your circumstances for it,” said Kang Jin-Ho, his smirk distorting weirdly.

In the old days of the demon cult, no one dared to hold this type of training. The danger of one's mind going haywire was ever-present during one's attempt to master demonic cultivation. If that happened, one would become violent and aggressive toward other cultivators nearby.

So, a large group training together like the Demon Flames was unthinkable back then. Even an accidental bump of shoulders could have resulted in someone dying, after all!

That was why demonic cultivators individually trained using the same cultivation method as their peers. But the situation in the Martial Assembly was different.

The members of the Assembly still retained their sense of camaraderie despite mastering demonic cultivation. Thanks to Kang Jin-Ho eliminating some portions of the madness-inducing demonic nature from the cultivation methods, the Demon Flames still recognized each other as comrades and friends.

“If you can't prevent your mind from being corrupted by demonic madness, we should teach your body to learn when to fight back instead,” Kang Jin-Ho scanned the crowd while smirking again. “Isn't that the obvious alternative everyone in our situation should resort to?”

“Huh? But, how...?”

“Yi Myeong-Hwan.”

“Yes, sir!”

“From now on, unleash your demonic qi as much as possible during training. Practice retaining your rational mind during that state.”

“...What if someone loses his mind to madness, sir?”

“Then, beat that guy up.”

“...Sorry?”

“Keep an eye out, and if someone goes mental, beat the living daylights out of him. We’ve already resorted to this method before, so why are you so shocked?”

Yi Myeong-Hwan’s eyes powerfully quaked just then.

‘W-what the hell?’

Wasn’t Kang Jin-Ho explaining a high-level martial concept to his pupils just now? So, how did his lecture arrive at this conclusion?!

“Humans remember better once they get beaten to a pulp. And the best way to teach yourself that losing your sanity to demonic qi is bad... is to engrave the notion of ‘Lose your sanity, and you’ll get royally beaten up’ into every fiber of your being!”

“...!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

“B-b-but, sir! It's nearly impossible to know when someone is going insane from their appearance alone. So how...?”

“No need to worry,” Kang Jin-Ho replied coolly. However, his smirk had deepened to the point of rousing soul-shuddering dread in the hearts of Demon Flames! “I’ll demonstrate to you a few times until you all get the feel for it. As in, when to start beating someone up!”

“...!”

“Now, all of you, get up. We’ll start right away. Let me say this in advance, however...”

Crack, crunch...!

Kang Jin-Ho clenched his fists so tightly that his joints and knuckles popped noisily.

“This is a training to stop yourselves falling into demonic madness. So, if you fall, you will receive appropriate punishment. Do not expect me to go easy on you.”

“...!”

“Now, get started.”

That was when Yi Myeong-Hwan began cursing himself for envying Gong Yeong-Gil. While almost vomiting blood, too!