Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1085. Contemplating (5)

Vator had not been feeling great lately.

‘It feels so strange.’

Should he blame frustration for his state?

‘No. That doesn't quite describe how I feel.’

Vator couldn't accurately determine the source of his dissatisfaction that had been filling him up. That didn't change the fact that he was suffering from a bout of powerful unhappiness, though.

‘But, why?’

No matter how much he pondered, no clear answer presented itself. It wasn’t as if Vator’s current situation was unsatisfying.

His original reason for joining the Martial Assembly was to pursue even greater heights of strength. Or, to be more precise, because Kang Jin-Ho was here.

‘Kang Jin-Ho...’

To Vator, Kang Jin-Ho was like a symbol of strength. Even if he wasn't the strongest expert under the heavens back then!

Of course, the situation had changed somewhat lately, but when Vator first ran into Kang Jin-Ho, stronger experts than either man could be found in their droves. As a matter of fact, Vator knew at least ten experts stronger than him at the time!

Even then, Vator was still captivated by Kang Jin-Ho. That guy had something other experts lacked.

‘It’s difficult to explain, isn’t it?’

Vator tasted defeat at Kang Jin-Ho's hands. However, what if he went back in time and fought Kang Jin-Ho again? What kind of an outcome would he get?

‘I’ll win.’

He should win a hundred times out of a hundred. That was the difference in strength back then.

Even then, Kang Jin-Ho easily trampled on the gap in strength that logic said could not be overcome and nearly killed Vator.

It was true that Vator saw the infinite potential sleeping within Kang Jin-Ho during that battle. But that wasn't his motivation for deciding to throw his lot with the Koreans and the Martial Assembly.

Sure, he got “brainwashed” initially, but now? He willingly followed Kang Jin-Ho of his own accord.

All this was true, but... Lately...

Vator rubbed his face, hard.

‘There aren’t any problems, so why...’

He was getting stronger, which was what he had always wanted. The current him should be strong enough to crush his old self from when he first fought Kang Jin-Ho... with only one hand!

After cultivating demonic arts, and enhancing his ability to control the demonic qi, Vator could finally utilize power that far outstripped his previous peak.

His physical strength wasn’t the only thing that experienced meteoric improvement, either.

His martial path had always been razor-focused on external arts. Even if he wanted to be charitable about himself, the balance of his strength couldn't be called good. But he had no other choice but to stick to it.

Thanks to focusing his enormous talent for martial arts in external arts, his cultivation soared seemingly endlessly toward the heavens. Unfortunately, once his external arts broke past a certain realm, it became impossible to master another internal cultivation method to supplement his weak point.

After all, poorly gathered internal energy would never stay in his dantian and get absorbed into the rest of his body instead!

However, demonic cultivation was different.

Vator’s martial arts were fundamentally orthodox in nature. But now, he was mastering demonic arts.

Two cultivation methods with clashing natures; mastering both simultaneously meant the two could not mix and blend together. To other cultivators, this fact could be a massive drawback, but not to Vator. No, it was more like a jackpot.

Thanks to the clashing natures of the two cultivation methods, Vator finally succeeded in creating his own dantian, something deemed impossible until now.

With that, his combat strength had improved. But what deserved even greater praise was that he now had established a foothold to leapfrog himself to even greater heights of strength.

He had already sensed that external arts alone would not be enough. Even if people referred to Vator as a man with a physique housing the divine might, there were still some realms he couldn’t reach with only his physical strength alone.

For instance, the realm reached by the Crimson King!

‘When he was fighting me, the Crimson King wasn’t even using one-tenth of his strength!’

Vator had been proud of injuring the Crimson King during their fight. He had every right to since no one else had managed to land a punch on the Crimson King's torso even though there had been plenty of challengers until then!

However, watching the Crimson King go all out during his life-or-death battle with Kang Jin-Ho laid bare the painful truth. Back when Vator was fighting him, the Crimson King had not been serious!

‘This humiliation!’

This humiliation made his entire sizable body shudder uncontrollably. However, he didn't resent the Crimson King. His humiliation, and the subsequent flare-ups of rage, were meant for how weak he was.

Watching that battle between Kang Jin-Ho and the Crimson King helped Vator realize something. What he should aim for was a realm even higher. A realm that could only be reached by putting in effort akin to discarding the path he had dedicated his entire life to and allowing himself to be born anew!

Right now, Vator was diligently treading this new path.

He cast aside the pride of being an orthodox martial artist and accepted demonic cultivation, a target of much scorn and derision. And to properly utilize the demonic qi, he didn’t only listen to Kang Jin-Ho’s guidance but even unhesitantly asked the old fart... Chang Min for his advice.

Thanks to all these factors, Vator was growing stronger at a scarcely believable rate.

Without a doubt, he was rapidly getting closer to his goal.

Vator was getting stronger. And the disciples he personally guided were getting stronger, too. That filled him with so much satisfaction.

In that case, he should be happy, but...

‘But why do I feel this way?’

He couldn't figure out where this void, this emptiness, burning a hole in his heart had come from.

‘At times like this, sweating a bucket is the key to refreshing yourself!’

Thinking about a lot of things could only mean Vator was distracted, that useless thoughts had invaded his mind. Maybe this was the first sign of the ‘heart demon’, a phenomenon Vator had never experienced until now.

‘Whatever this is, I don’t like how this unsatisfactory feeling keeps clinging to me.’

To clear up his head, nothing was better than pushing his body to the absolute limit. So, he headed to his exclusive training area in the middle-ish of a nearby mountain.

Regular training areas were nothing more than open plots of land with flattened ground. But Vator's was a bit special. Flattened soil was simply not sturdy enough to withstand Vator's physical strength.

After learning of this fact, Lee Hyeon-Su forked out a lot of money to construct a special training area for Vator. Of course, it still got destroyed more often than not, causing Lee Hyeon-Su to whine nonstop!

While cracking his neck from left to right, Vator headed to his exclusive training area. However...

‘...Mm?’

He sensed a presence in the training area. Vator's expression crumpled a little.

That place was meant for him. Although there was no rule forbidding others from accessing it, his mood still soured at this discovery.

Vator usually didn't care about things like this. Even if one of his disciples borrowed his car without permission, he'd not lose his temper. The desire for earthly possessions was one of the hindrances to a martial artist's cultivation, after all.

However, the story was different this time.

Training was a crucial method to attain greater strength. In other words, this activity was perhaps the most sacred for Vator. So, someone disturbing his training was just as bad as touching his reverse scale!

“Who dares...!”

Vator was about to roar in anger only to hurriedly clamp his mouth shut. His brows quivered weirdly, while his lips distorted suspiciously.

There was no need to roar here. It became starkly clear who the intruder was, after all!

The closer he got to the training area, the clearer he could feel the bone-chilling demonic qi emanating from that figure. Anyone who couldn't recognize the owner of this demonic qi had no right to call themselves a Martial Assembly member and draw a salary from it!

The corners of Vator’s lips gradually curled up higher and higher. Eventually, he couldn’t contain the smirk spreading on his face.

He could feel it! He could feel this skin-prickling murderous aura!

Vator could feel his mental strength and stamina rapidly depleting by merely withstanding this aura and getting closer to its source.

“Heuh...!”

Even then, Vator continued to march forward with no thoughts of retreat.

His skin stung painfully as if razor blades were slicing him up. His heart began madly pumping blood like an engine going out of control. The incoming tidal waves of demonic qi agitated Vator's blood qi, and his huge body began dyeing in a dark-reddish hue.

Bam!

Thud!

Each and every step now required considerable effort to take.

‘How tremendous!’

This moment reminded Vator that he had not faced Kang Jin-Ho's full power for a while. From a certain point in time, he had become a bystander. Nothing more than a spectator who witnessed Kang Jin-Ho defeating various enemies, then moving on to mop up the mess left behind.

‘Now I get it.’

Vator finally figured out the source of his unhappiness. This dissatisfaction that didn’t want to go away even if he was getting stronger and stronger!

Eventually, Vator reached the hill where the training area was located. And he spotted Kang Jin-Ho’s figure in the distance wielding a sword in each of his hands.

‘...He’s sweating?’

Kang Jin-Ho’s whole body was soaked in sweat. More correctly, sweat had covered his figure like steam gushing out from a kettle filled with boiling water.

What a bizarre sight that was.

Sweat was the human body’s mechanism to regulate its temperature and expel toxins. However, experts would stop sweating after reaching a certain realm. That was because they could maintain their body temperature without resorting to sweating.

A top expert like Kang Jin-Ho sweating could only mean one thing: he had exerted strength that his body could not properly endure!

Doing that in solo training without an opponent to focus on was no easy feat.

“...How unexpected,” said Vator.

However, that was when Kang Jin-Ho abruptly turned his head to stare at Vator.

Flinch!

Vator’s body instinctively shrunk back when Kang Jin-Ho’s gaze landed on him.

‘What was that?’

Vator was confused for a moment before remembering it.

Yes, he remembered this sensation. He felt it when facing Kang Jin-Ho for the first time!

The big man chose to throw his lot with Kang Jin-Ho for this one reason. He sensed the latter's desperation, his dogged determination... his intensity, that was absent from other experts of similar caliber!

Yes, this intensity! This primal intensity of a predator primed to pounce on you to rip your throat out and drink your blood at any second!

This sensation was akin to what you’d get by facing a massive, hulking beast that bared its fangs as acrid stench wafted out from its throat.

And it was what Kang Jin-Ho used to waft in the past, too.

‘Ah, so that’s why.’

Vator finally figured out why he felt so empty.

He followed Kang Jin-Ho precisely because of this sensation. But Kang Jin-Ho of late seemed to have lost his edge. His fangs.

A beast that got defanged and declawed was bound to become a domesticated pet. Kang Jin-Ho no longer displayed the same level of primal savagery as before. But now...

Here he was. Here was that primal beast!

Goosebumps broke out all over Vator’s figure. His jaw reflexively clamped shut, while his fists tightly clenched.

“Master. Here to train?”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly stared at Vator for a second or two before stabbing his swords into the ground and nodding slightly.

“But, training your body is meaningless to you now, is it not?”

It felt like every muscle in Vator’s body was twitching non-stop in anticipation.

Of course he knew that he could never defeat Kang Jin-Ho in his current state. The rate of his improvement was as slow as a snail’s compared to Kang Jin-Ho’s rate, after all. But, so what?

What was the point of enjoying victories against weaker foes?

Martial arts were conceived as a way for the weaker party to defeat the stronger enemies. Since that was the case, Vator couldn’t call himself a martial artist if he missed this chance to challenge someone stronger than him!

And that someone stronger was standing right before his eyes.

“I’ve given up searching for meanings in things,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“...Then, what?”

“I’ll do everything I can. That’s what I should do to become stronger. Which is something I...” Kang Jin-Ho bared his fangs in a ferocious smirk. “...have forgotten about for a long time.”

The prickling sensation Vator felt intensified just then.

‘Yes! This is it!’

Vator's thirst which couldn't be quenched until now was finally being sated.

The Martial Assembly was undoubtedly getting stronger even as they stood here. Everyone within the organization was progressing and improving nicely. However, this improvement was missing the fierce intensity Kang Jin-Ho emanated right now.

It was as if they were on rails and rushing along on a predetermined path. With an environment like that, you’d only get mass-produced goods at the end of the day.

“So, master. It seems you’ve finally woken up.”

“I've woken up, you say?” Kang Jin-Ho smirked deeply while glancing at Vator. “I see that you've learned how to sprout insolent remarks.”

“Ku... Kuhahahahahaha!”

Vator burst into uproarious laughter. His eyes grew more and more bloodshot.