Chapter 1533 Making Preparations (3)

“Urgh...”

“Awooo... I’m dying... At this rate, I... I’ll really die...”

“I’m already dead.”

“A talking dead man? What the f*ck...”

The Demon Flames, currently sprawled on the training area, writhed pathetically without even bothering to stand up again.

Dirt kept getting sucked into their mouths, but none of them cared about such a thing. Why? Because it felt like every single bone in their bodies had shattered, that was why!

Rather than being in pain, though, it felt more like... As if they had no strength left?

“He’s not even human, is he?”

“I knew that from the start, okay?”

“Even if that’s true... Isn’t this a bit too much?”

The Demon Flames had been diligently training with Chang Min until now. Unlike Kang Jin-Ho, who could be considerate in his own way while supervising people, Chang Min didn’t believe in the concept of taking it easy.

After going through that experience, the Demon Flames thought they had some level of understanding on how to deal with absurdly powerful beings, but...

Unfortunately for them, they all had been delusional!

Yi Myeong-Hwan shuddered weakly. He still couldn’t forget the memories of Kang Jin-Ho pouncing on him while enveloped in the pitch-black demonic qi.

Blooming hell! I thought I was gonna wet myself.

What was even more terrifying was that no one here would’ve made fun of him for soiling himself. Because, he could smell this faint ammonia-like stink wafting in the air for a little while now.

“Urgh...!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan forced himself to stand up somehow. His back screamed and protested by creaking painfully, but that didn’t mean he should lie in the dirt forever, either.

“Damn it... This sucks.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan groaned at the sight of his unsteady hands.

He just couldn’t understand it. How was it possible for Kang Jin-Ho to be that strong?

Of course, he knew that in the past, he and the rest of Demon Flames simply weren’t capable of comprehending Kang Jin-Ho’s true strength.

To a three-year-old, an average adult and a heavyweight boxing champion were both impossible to win against. Differentiating the two was meaningless, and more to the point, there was no reason to do so.

However, as the child grew older, they would begin to appreciate the difference more and more.

Yi Myeong-Hwan in the past didn’t know how strong Kang Jin-Ho actually was, other than knowing vaguely that the Assembly Master was well beyond his reach. However, that story also applied to Chang Min and the other Assembly directors. So, whenever they said Kang Jin-Ho was in another realm compared to them in terms of strength, Yi Myeong-Hwan simply took their words at face value.

In other words, he only had a vague idea of Kang Jin-Ho’s true strength but never really was able to sense it until today.

Today’s experience rectified that oversight rather emphatically, though. Now he completely understood the truth!

No, hang on. It’s not really ‘understanding’ it, now is it?

The more correct assessment should be that he could now see “this much”. Yi Myeong-Hwan should be able to see even more once his strength had improved even further.

Although, he didn’t feel like doing that right now for obvious reasons.

“Urggggghhh...”

One by one, Yi Myeong-Hwan’s comrades began pushing themselves up to their feet.

“How... We all attacked together, so how did we still lose?”

“Was the gap between us this humongous?”

Everyone was still in disbelief over what had happened just now. Their attitude didn’t surprise Yi Myeong-Hwan, though, as he amply sympathized with their reactions, even if other Assembly members might call him and his peers out for their arrogance.

The thing was, though, the Demon Flames really had gone through hellish training in Japan.

Chang Min was even more merciless than Kang Jin-Ho when it came to pushing people to their breaking point. In a way, that made some sense. According to Chang Min, Kang Jin-Ho had never nurtured other martial artists before. And thanks to his own stupendous innate talent, he also had trouble understanding the plight of ordinary people.

As far as martial arts were concerned, the Demon Flames were no different from, say, primitive apes in Kang Jin-Ho’s perspective. On the other hand, Chang Min was like a top-tier private tutor who had nurtured countless Demon Cult members throughout the years.

In terms of academic abilities, not even the top-tier private tutor would be able to raise their voice in the presence of a highly respected professor from the best university in the land. However, the opposite could be true when it came to their abilities to teach people.

By attending Chang Min’s “lectures,” the Demon Flames experienced exponential growth. They learned how to utilize demonic cultivation more effectively, how to control themselves better, and even what it meant to fight enemies as a demonic cultivator.

They didn’t just learn the theories, either, but accumulated a lot of hands-on combat experience as well. In short, Yi Myeong-Hwan wasn’t embellishing the facts by saying their strength had doubled compared to before.

Even then...!

“Yup, he wiped the floor with us.”

“...Not only wiped, but he even polished the dang floor, too!”

They couldn’t even touch a hair on Kang Jin-Ho’s body!

“Urgh...”

Yi Myeong-Hwan groaned deeply.

Confirming personally that his master was stupendously powerful was a good thing, yes, but it still felt like all of his hard work up until today didn’t amount to much, and that deflated his sense of self-worth considerably.

“I mean, would it have killed him to go easy on us or something! How could he trample on us so ruthlessly like this?”

“At least he didn’t kill us, though. And no one’s seriously injured, either.”

“But that’s worse, isn’t it? How is it possible to beat us up half to death but not injure anyone in the process?”

Everyone spat out a loud groan in perfect sync.

“Gee whiz... That was f*cking terrifying.”

“...Don’t even mention it, dude. I can’t even stand tall anymore.”

“Damn. And I thought I had become strong enough, too.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan’s expression grew unreadable as he studied his comrades’ reactions.

They have become... more humble, huh?

The honest truth was that these Demon Flames had been acting a bit too full of themselves before today’s smackdown session.

The atmosphere within the Martial Assembly—at least in recent times, that was—seemed to point toward the Demon Flames being the organization’s top elite force. And, after Chang Min had trained them, the Demon Cult even wanted them to join, too.

These people used to have nothing going on in their lives not too long ago, so all these new experiences proved so exciting to them. No wonder their confidence level had...

Nope, it’s not confidence, but arrogance.

Getting a thorough beating from Kang Jin-Ho helped Yi Myeong-Hwan and others realize something important. They still had a long, long way to go, yet they allowed themselves to grow somewhat complacent after only coming this far.

“Yeah... We got too full of ourselves,” Yi Myeong-Hwan spoke firmly.

“What the hell are you even saying, you punk?!”

“Leave him be. He is probably trying to act like a know-it-all again.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan’s face grew flushed a little. Goddamn it, these idiots can be so...!

Being carefree was one of the quirks defining the Demon Flames, but weren’t these bastards taking that carefree-ness a bit too far? Maybe even into the realm of carelessness instead?!

Yi Myeong-Hwan tutted and asked loudly, “Let’s be honest here, okay? After going through all that training in Japan, you all thought you might have a chance against the Assembly Master, didn’t you?”

The usual reaction from the Demon Flames when facing such a question would’ve been to say that was untrue, but not this time. As if to say they all knew their own guilt, they clamped their mouths shut.

Yi Myeong-Hwan was right, after all. Of course, no one here was delusional enough to think they stood a chance against Kang Jin-Ho in a one-on-one fight. However, it was also true that they thought they could stand toe to toe with their boss if they had combined their strengths.

As proof, even Chang Min failed to withstand the combined assault of the Demon Flames during training. But their expectations got shattered so unceremoniously today.

Yi Myeong-Hwan scanned his comrades and resumed his lecture. “I... I think the Assembly Master knew we were getting too arrogant for our own good. And that’s why he trampled on us real good today. It worked, right? We don’t feel so arrogant about ourselves anymore.”

“...It’s my confidence that’s taken a knock, though.”

“And my teeth.”

The Demon Flames grumbled to no one in particular, but they all seemed to accept Yi Myeong-Hwan’s analysis of the situation.

“Let’s get out of here, guys.”

“Yeah, we should.”

The Demon Flames, making sad puppy faces, staggered back up to their feet.

Yi Myeong-Hwan chuckled hollowly. “I don’t know if I should be happy or be sad about this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sad, since now we know we’re pathetically weak. But happy, since it’s clear that we still have a lot left to learn from the Assembly Master.”

“Well, if you put it that way...”

“Yup, I can’t tell. I have no idea.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan groaned loudly while leaving the mountainside training area.

Yeah, we still have a long way to go.

They must train even harder now. Only then would they be able to repay Kang Jin-Ho’s kindness, who went to great lengths to humble them today!

Yi Myeong-Hwan tightly clenched his fists, determination now filling his expression. “We are going to train even harder from tomorrow onward! So that we can meet the Assembly Master’s expectation!”

“...?”

“So... When we spar against him next time, we can at least leave behind a scratch or two on him!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan shouted, the light in his eyes burning dangerously. However, the reply he got was not as enthusiastic as he had hoped.

“Dude, didn’t you hear the Assembly Master earlier?”

“Huh?”

The Demon Flames walking behind him stared at Yi Myeong-Hwan, deeply unimpressed.

“The Assembly Master told us to come here tomorrow, too. So we can do this again. Oh, wait. You were unconscious back then, weren’t you?”

“...!”

“So, stop yammering dogsh*t and worry about how to survive tomorrow. That will be more beneficial for you.”

“...”

***

Crack, pop...!

Kang Jin-Ho cracked his neck left and right. A refreshed expression dominated his face.

“Been a while since I had such a nice workout.”

As he thought, someone like him needed to exercise like this once in a while.

The administration of the Martial Assembly and MK had been keeping him occupied recently, but his nature as a martial artist hadn’t gone anywhere. Getting into fights and dealing with various conflicts were the only way for him to stave off his restlessness.

Of course, he hadn’t forgotten about his escape from China and North Korea, or the “war” against the American military, but such battles weren’t quite enough to quench his thirst. No, only by fighting against strong martial artists would his thirst truly be satisfied.

They sure have gotten stronger, though.

He genuinely wanted to praise the Demon Flames for making him want to fight them. His hunger for battles this time meant he couldn’t even say half of the things he wanted to say, though. But that couldn’t be helped, no?

Kang Jin-Ho glanced behind him.

Maybe I went overboard a little?

He got too carried away and ended up pummeling the Demon Flames more than he had initially planned for. After all, his original intention was to praise and congratulate them for all they had achieved in Japan. But what he did was more like beating the living daylights out of them for fun.

Kang Jin-Ho sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

“I kinda feel sorry for them now.”

A wry chuckle left his lips while he cracked his neck from side to side again. He even stretched his waist while walking away. Was it because it had been a while since he last utilized his internal energy? He still felt energized, even now.

For sure, meditation alone isn’t quite enough for me.

Kang Jin-Ho had already reached a realm where training physically was basically a pointless waste of time. Exercising wouldn’t improve him by any appreciable measure, because his cultivation would automatically keep him in his most optimal physical state. So, to improve his strength, what he really needed was meditation, as well as researching and refining his martial prowess even further.

He knew all this, but the urge to let loose physically would rear its head every once in a while, like today. It’d be more correct to say this was his way of venting his desires instead of honing his skills.

I better find alternatives soon since I don’t want to cripple the Demon Flames.

Kang Jin-Ho held himself back this time, and the Demon Flames had gotten sufficiently strong enough, which helped massively with things ending without anyone getting too badly injured. However, if this kind of encounter happened over and over again... It wouldn’t be too surprising to see the Demon Flames coming down with serious health complications later down the line!

Kang Jin-Ho groaned softly while walking down the mountainside. Even as he walked away, though, he glanced at the distant training area with the Demon Flames.

Well, at least...

They certainly had gotten a lot stronger.

When he started this project, he couldn’t help but worry about how long he’d need to turn these people into the Demon Flames of the past. But it seemed that the gap had narrowed considerably these days.

Chang Min’s teachings must’ve played a key role in their improvement. The Demon Flames now behaved more savagely than before, while their movements had gotten sharper and more elaborate, too. Instead of the demonic qi controlling them, it seemed they were gaining control over it now.

Then... They’ll surely get even stronger.

When that happened, Kang Jin-Ho could safely say the Demon Flames had been truly revived.

Once those people had gained full mastery of demonic cultivation and had grown even more loyal? And were also strong enough to support him? Then, what?

Kang Jin-Ho licked his lips.

The “Martial Assembly” he had envisioned at the start was getting closer and closer toward becoming reality. At this rate, this organization would eventually grow powerful enough to rival China’s Three Kings and their factions.

When that happened...

“...? Mm?”

Kang Jin-Ho, who had been walking down the mountain in silence, woke up from his thoughts at the sound of commotion coming from close by.

“...? What are they doing over there?”

His brows subtly arched up while glancing at the Assembly’s athletics field.