Descent of the Demon Master

continuously.

Kang Jin-Ho slightly shook his head, then pressed his palm on Wu Yuan's chest.

Crack!

Wu Yuan's cracked and misaligned ribs were forced back into their correct positions, making it easier for him to breathe again.
Wu Yuan's disbelieving face looked up at Kang Jin-Ho, and his lips cracked open.
“H-how can…
a demonic…
practitioner like you…?”

A sudden realization dawned on Kang Jin-Ho from what this man had said just now.
The status of modern-day demonic arts seemed to have fallen to the same level as some low-rank trivial schools of martial arts.

'Now that I think about it…
Isn't it obvious?'

The center of demonic arts back in Zhongyuan was the demon cult.
And Kang Jin-Ho's Records of Asura and Crimson Flames Art, as well as Azure Demon's Azure Flames Art, could be called the backbone of demonic arts.

With Azure Demon dying at Kang Jin-Ho's hands, the Azure Flames Art would have been lost, unable to be handed down properly.
Meanwhile, both the Crimson Flames Art and the Records of Asura died with him back then.
In other words, the three supreme cultivation techniques representing the demon cult had vanished literally overnight.

In that situation, the demon cult wouldn't have been strong enough to withstand the assault of the hyena-like orthodox sect bastards.
The demon cult's destruction would have resulted in the loss of the path of demonic cultivation as well.

It wouldn't be surprising to learn that the demonic arts were now seen as some cheap sorcery favored by the undesirable rabbles of society.

“How can your mind still be sane after cultivating in the ways of demonic arts?! How?!” Wu Yuan cried out, unable to comprehend this situation.

Two things were tormenting his mind right now.
One, this demonic arts practitioner was an expert at a realm Wu Yuan couldn't even imagine.
And two, a mere demonic arts practitioner was maintaining a lucid mind to engage in a 'civilized' conversation with him.

'How, how…
is that even possible?'

The demonic arts Wu Yuan knew of weren't like this.
No one doubted that the demonic arts could make a cultivator stronger several times faster than the orthodox cultivation methods.
So much so that it should even be called 'explosive' growth.
In that process, however, the demonic arts practitioner would inevitably lose their sanity and reasoning.
The degeneration of one's mind wouldn't be all that noticeable outwardly, but their humanity would still be shaven away—until they became nothing but an empty shell of a beast.

'I…
I can't understand this!'

In that case, this young man possessing such high attainment in demonic arts should have been reduced to nothing more than a bloodthirsty demon in human skin.
But…
But, how could he remain utterly sane and converse with Wu Yuan like this?

Kang Jin-Ho smirked softly.
“It seems you've never witnessed true demonic arts.”

Wu Yuan looked up at the young man in a daze.
True demonic arts? Was there such a thing?

“B-but, how?”

That was when Kang Jin-Ho's aura suddenly transformed.

Crunch!

“Kuh-huuhk!” Wu Yuan convulsed and shivered powerfully at the hand of a terrifying demon tightly squeezing his throat.
His senses hadn't dulled to the point of failing to sense the incredible level of strength contained in that hand.
Wu Yuan's neck would snap like a twig with just a single finger flick of this young man!

“It seems you're still under a wrong assumption…” Kang Jin-Ho smirked eerily.
That smile came across as more sinister and ominous than anything in this world.
“You don't have the right to ask questions.
Only I have that.”

“…!”

“And you still haven't answered my question.”

Wu Yuan began to nod away.
He urgently nodded away, thinking that this was the only way to stop this demonic bastard from killing him right now.

Kang Jin-Ho eased his grip ever so slightly, allowing words to flood out explosively from Wu Yuan's cracked lips.
“I… I can't be called strong in this world.
People stronger than me are as many as pebbles on the road, y-you see? I-if you seek a truly strong opponent, t-then you should find someone else, not me!”

Kang Jin-Ho didn't say anything and quietly stared at Wu Yuan.

Feeling the pressure bear down on him again, Wu Yuan hurriedly revealed all the information he knew.
“If you want to find true experts in China, you must seek out the members of the Martial Union!”

“Martial Union?”

Wu Yuan urgently nodded again.
“Y-yes, them! I merely receive orders from the Martial Union.
That's all! No one knows exactly who the ruling elites of the Union are, b-but I've heard they are peak experts that have surpassed the limits of humanity!”

“Hmm…” Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes and stared at Wu Yuan; his interest was now genuinely piqued.
“How do I get in touch with this Martial Union?”

“…You already are.”

“Mm?”

“I'm here, aren't I?! The Martial Union has sent me, after all! I might not know who they really are, but I still accept their commission to do jobs like this.
T-that's why…”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly let go, and Wu Yuan fell back while coughing his lungs out.

“Cough! Cough!”

Kang Jin-Ho looked up at the heavens, somewhat unsatisfied.

'Martial Union, is it…?'

Should he consider this group as the modern-day equivalent of Zhongyuan's union of the so-called righteous sects? The way this Martial Union stayed hidden and schemed away in darkness reminded him of heretical cults instead.

'…Hmm.
Does this mean different factions in China have been consolidated into one group?'

Kang Jin-Ho couldn't tell whether this man only knew one group called the Martial Union or if this group had already subjugated the others.
One thing was clear at this stage, though—unlike the situation in Korea, it seemed one gigantic faction had seized power in China.

“I see.
Thanks for the info,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

Wu Yuan kept nodding away, his body shivering from nervousness.
No matter how calm and amiable this demonic arts practitioner seemed right now, there was no getting away from the fact that such a man was like a walking ticking bomb that could transform at the snap of a finger.

Wu Yuan's life depended on such a man's whims, so how could he not be afraid?

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow.
“What's your job?”

“…It's to monitor the airport.”

“The airport? Why?”

“For some time now, foreign martial artists have been entering the country to cause us headaches.
That was why I was assigned to monitor the airport and contact the Martial Union if I spotted a martial artist.
The Martial Union is supposed to decide on what to do, and then they give me the next order.”

“I see…” Kang Jin-Ho nodded before leaning in closer to whisper to Wu Yuan, “So, the order you received was to kill me?”

“N-no, it was not!”

“It's fine either way.” Kang Jin-Ho leaned back, no longer feeling like listening to this man.
Whatever the original order was, this man had tried to kill Kang Jin-Ho right after confirming that he was a demonic arts practitioner.
If Kang Jin-Ho had been weaker than this small fry, he would have ended up as a corpse by now.

“I understand that you were merely following orders.
And I also understand that you didn't pursue me out of your own will.”

“Y-yes.
That, that is correct.”

“However…” Kang Jin-Ho broke into a sinister grin.
“You still need to pay for daring to bare your fangs at me.
Don't you agree?”

Wu Yuan watched as Kang Jin-Ho's hand slowly extended toward his throat, despair quickly filling his eyes.