Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1258. Mediating (3)

Contemplation meant the observation of oneself.

One must separate one's consciousness from one's own body as if it belonged to someone else and calmly analyze all the changes and flows within. That was contemplation.

In a more modern parlance, one could say one was checking to see if the energy in their body was flowing okay, if their actions had deviated from their intentions, or if there had been changes that went unnoticed.

To a martial artist who had climbed past a certain realm, contemplation like this was a must. After all, it was an act of thoroughly inspecting oneself.

Sometimes people called this process meditation or wall gazing.

People had given it many names over the years, but whatever their names were, all these things had one thing in common: conversation. More specifically, a conversation between one’s body and mind.

It was a meeting with one’s true self where external factors had been completely removed.

Look past all these fancy words and concepts, and it was simply a process for a martial artist to analyze and inspect their body and mind, similar to how a doctor scanned a patient’s body through an MRI machine.

Right now, Kang Jin-Ho was contemplating. And he was in the middle of discovering something different about himself.

‘What’s this?’

He began his contemplation out of habit. And that allowed him to realize that his body had changed from yesterday.

The boundary of his dantian... had become indistinct?

He urgently re-inspected his body, but the result remained the same.

One’s dantian was easily the most important part of a martial artist. It was basically what separated a martial artist from a powerless, ordinary person. And it was also a vessel that stored one’s internal energy.

So why did its boundary become vaguely less defined?

‘A heart demon?’

Kang Jin-Ho furrowed his brow, then sank his consciousness deep inside his body. From what he knew, this development couldn’t have been a good one.

One’s dantian must contain one’s qi with a firm, well-defined boundary. The stronger one got, and the higher one’s realm grew, one’s dantian would become even better defined and sturdier. That was common sense.

Dantian’s boundary becoming less defined indicated Kang Jin-Ho’s cultivation was weakening. And that was definitely bad news.

However, when he inspected himself further, Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t find anything wrong with his body. Other than his dantian’s boundary getting fainter, of course.

In other words...

‘My cultivation hasn’t weakened at all, but my dantian’s boundary is still breaking down.’

What a bizarre phenomenon this was.

After inspecting his body multiple times, Kang Jin-Ho’s consciousness gradually emerged from deep within himself. He opened his eyes and silently looked down at his lower abdomen where his dantian was.

‘I don’t feel any different.’

No, that wasn’t true. He did feel a little stronger than yesterday. This increase wasn’t like a flood of power gushing out explosively from deep within, but more like a dam steadily filling a lake—or, in this case, his body—with energy.

Something unexpected had happened, yet his condition remained excellent.

‘I can’t tell if this is a good thing or not.’

Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t readily make up his mind because his current martial path differed from the one his past self, namely Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor, had tread. In fact, it’d be safe to assume that no one in history had walked a similar path to him.

Gangho’s history stretched well past a thousand years, yet no one had attempted to combine orthodox cultivation methods with demonic cultivation. No, maybe some people had tried before. However, judging from the lack of written records, it was safe to say no one had succeeded.

Even Kang Jin-Ho hadn’t planned to enter this path in the beginning. As such, predicting what might happen was not possible right now.

Since his dantian’s boundary was disappearing, there was a good chance it might completely disappear from Kang Jin-Ho’s body one day.

Wouldn’t that be a bad thing? In the past, he would’ve thought so. However, the Kang Jin-Ho of now was not as concerned. After all, hadn’t he already witnessed it? A group of warriors who could use magic and sword auras without the existence of a ‘dantian’?

Kang Jin-Ho thought about something while observing those people. In the end, the Eastern-style martial art was merely one of the ways to utilize one’s martial prowess. Its practitioners did so by relying on their dantian. But other countless methods to unleash one’s strength could be found all over the world.

Lingering over the old ways even after witnessing infinite possibilities on offer was something only fools did.

What if Kang Jin-Ho’s dantian disappeared? Then he’d just let it be.

Even if the newly paved path seemed different from the one he had walked on in the past, he had no reason to stop.

Kang Jin-Ho closed his eyes. His mind recalled the image of another individual. An individual boasting an arrogant demeanor and emitting flame-like demonic qi!

His tyrannical aura, seemingly ready to trample everything under the heavens, could even freeze the onlookers’ hearts with terror and dread.

That individual was none other than Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor!

Kang Jin-Ho observed the image of his other self.

Without a doubt, Crimson Demon was him. However, it was not him at the same time.

In the past, Kang Jin-Ho would feel himself getting crushed whenever he tried to face Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor like this. However, what about now?

Now, he could remain calm. Unaffected. Kang Jin-Ho was no longer agitated while observing the image of Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor.

‘I’m still not as strong as back then.’

His earnest impression was that his strength was still nowhere near that of Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor’s. The war against the Japanese had starkly demonstrated that point.

Even if the Japanese elites resorted to using explosives and relied on combat methods he had never seen before, Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor would still have utterly crushed the Japanese without shedding a single drop of blood.

Indeed, he still had some way to go. Kang Jin-Ho hadn’t caught up to the lofty realm his past self had attained. However...!

The corners of Kang Jin-Ho’s lips subtly curled up. Because he could at least see ‘it’ now.

Up until recently, the realm attained by Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor seemed beyond reach. However, now it didn’t seem so far away anymore. Of course, it was still a long, long way off. Even so, there was a massive difference between not being able to see the mountain’s distant peak and seeing it some distance away.

If he could see it, he could just keep climbing diligently until reaching it one day. In other words, it was only a matter of time.

The image of Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor grew blurry and indistinct before disappearing altogether.

What mattered in the end was reaching the goal, not the ‘how’ of getting there. Kang Jin-Ho experienced and witnessed many things during his third life. After having his horizons broadened this way, why should he repeat the old ways of doing things? That seemed pointless.

Indeed, he should focus on finding a better path, a better method, to reach his goal. Which was not to attain his former self’s strength, but to surpass it!

Kang Jin-Ho broke his lotus sitting position and got up from the bed. His whole body was soaked in sweat. Although there weren’t a lot of impurities remaining in his body for his sweat glands to expel these days, a good bout of qi circulation would still cause him to sweat all over.

Kang Jin-Ho circulated his qi once more to remove the sweat from his skin, then stretched his limbs grandly before leaving his bedroom.

“...”

When he opened the door and entered the living room, the first thing greeting his view was his little sister lounging on the couch munching away on snacks. Their eyes met mid-air.

“...Do you want some?” Kang Eun-Yeong sheepishly asked.

“No, I’m fine.”

What a mystifying phenomenon this was.

Every time he took a good look at his little sister, Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t help but wonder how accurate science actually was. According to science, when a person failed to burn all the excess calories, that person’s body would grow fatter.

However, with an example like Kang Eun-Yeong around, Kang Jin-Ho grew seriously doubtful about that scientific finding.

His little sister was munching away on something half the time, so why hadn’t she gotten overweight yet?

‘No, wait a minute.’

She was undoubtedly gaining some volume around her torso. For instance, her lower tummy now formed a small dome, while her shoulder line had become rounder now. Those had to be the signs of fatty tissues accumulating all around Kang Eun-Yeong’s body.

What Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t figure out was... If everything Kang Eun-Yeong had munched on was converted into fatty tissues, she wouldn't be able to walk around anymore. Instead, she would be rolling around like a ball!

Kang Eun-Yeong tilted her head. “What is it?”

“...It’s nothing.” Kang Jin-Ho faltered slightly before asking a question. “Aren’t you going to start touring soon?” 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“Yeah, I am.”

“...Mm, I see. Never mind, then.”

Kang Eun-Yeong suddenly stared at her brother sharply. “You were thinking of bringing up my weight again, weren’t you?”

“...”

“This dude! Don’t you know that’s uncool to judge someone like that in this day and age!”

“I wasn’t being judgmental, okay?”

Kang Eun-Yeong’s gaze drifted lower to her tummy before gently putting the snacks down on the coffee table. Her expression indicated that a fair bit of guilty conscience had crept into her heart.

“Look, orabeoni. I was planning on getting back in shape soon. Me putting on weight through snacks is a part of my plan, you know?”

“Ah, I see. I didn’t know you could get back in shape that way.”

“No, I’m being serious! Right now, we’re in the middle of recording new tracks, okay? I need some meat on my bones to get a good vocal range out of me. Haven’t you heard of the concept of a resonance chamber?”

“Eun-Yeong?”

“Ng?”

“Even before you began your career, no one told me you could sing.”

“...Come outside. We’re gonna fight!”

“I’ll pass,” Kang Jin-Ho chuckled and walked past his sister to head to the bathroom.

However, Kang Eun-Yeong quickly clung to her brother. “Rather than nagging your hard-working little sister, how about being more mindful of your own business, orabeoni?”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “My own business?”

“That’s right. Don’t you know Yeon-Ha unnie and Chief Lee are working like crazy right now?”

“Chief Lee? How do you know Lee Hyeon-Su?”

“Lee Hyeon-Su? Don’t you mean Lee Hyeon-Ju?”

“Ah... That Chief Lee.”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly.

‘Looks like I’ll have to give Lee Hyeon-Su a promotion.’

With Lee Hyeon-Ju joining MK and receiving an upgrade to her job title, it became a little trickier to differentiate between two Chief Lees. Worse still, their names were so similar, too, making it harder to tell them apart at times! So much so that even Kang Jin-Ho got fooled every now and then.

“Is the workload that bad?”

Kang Eun-Yeong tilted her head. “They looked totally swarmed, you know? Isn’t it the job of the boss to figure out the workload of his subordinates and adjust it accordingly? I thought that was common sense, orabeoni.”

“Mm...!”

“Although it’s still inconceivable to me that you’re the boss of those two unnies... What can I do when that’s how the cookie crumbled? That’s why you better pull up your socks and do your job right, orabeoni!”

“Mm, you’re right.”

Kang Jin-Ho headed to the bathroom while scratching his head.

Kang Eun-Yeong couldn’t help but chuckle at that sight.

‘It’s so hard to get used to it even now.’

Of course she could tell that Kang Jin-Ho was someone amazing. To her, he was a dependable older brother and a source of so much pride. Although he could be a little particular... No, make that a lot particular, that still didn’t detract from how amazing he was.

However, Kang Jin-Ho’s latest activities had her freaked out rather than being proud of his achievements.

Kang Eun-Yeong used to think of her older brother as an ordinary university student, but literally out of the blue one day, he revealed his intentions of dropping out and starting some other random things. And then, before long, he got himself a nice skyscraper in the middle of Gangnam and opened his own business!

Kang Eun-Yeong was completely clueless about business and stuff, yet even she could tell that Kang Jin-Ho’s company was filled with talented workers. Logically speaking, those people shouldn’t be working under Kang Jin-Ho, it should be the other way around!

‘So I thought he was just a figurehead, but that doesn’t seem to be it, either.’

Judging from how Choi Yeon-Ha or Chief Lee Hyeon-Ju spoke to Kang Jin-Ho, he couldn’t be one of those Chairman-in-name-only characters.

“...I really don’t get this.”

Usually, one’s family knew about one’s situation better than strangers. However, as time passed, it felt like she knew less and less about her brother.

She couldn’t even discuss this topic with her parents because they seemed to have half-given up now.

“No matter what, he kinda feels like a con artist, no?”

Kang Eun-Yeong muttered to no one in particular while suspiciously glaring at the bathroom door. Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite enough to see into the mind of a potential con artist.

She spat out a loud groan, then shook her head.

“Looks like I’ll have to dig around a bit.”

Just as she had resolved herself, Kang Jin-Ho exited from the bathroom. Now that was one quick shower!

Kang Eun-Yeong curiously asked, “Are you going to work?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Will you be at your office in the afternoon? I’ll be recording stuff in the studio in the morning before stopping by the head office later in the day.”

“Really? But I have a meeting in the afternoon.”

“Oh, really now?” Kang Eun-Yeong narrowed her eyes. “And who will you be rendezvousing with?”

“A person who might alleviate the workload problem you brought up just now.”

“Ehng?”

Kang Jin-Ho smiled after noticing his sister’s confusion.

“I’ll be heeding your advice and do the job of the boss.”

While smiling refreshingly, Kang Jin-Ho headed back to his room.