Descent of the Demon Master

Chapter 749: Burning (4)

One's unyielding fighting spirit was formless.

A cultivator breathed in external qi and converted it into internal qi. You were only qualified to call yourself a cultivator if you could transform the formless internal qi into something more tangible.

If the meaning of that statement was flipped around, internal qi that was not intentionally turned into a physical phenomenon was no different to external qi aimlessly floating around in the air. Even if qi sometimes felt gentle and soothing or vicious and violent, it'd remain nothing more than formless qi without a cultivator using it to create a physical phenomenon.

This wasn't Kang Jin-Ho's pet theory or anything like that. No, this was a proven fact among martial artists. However, it felt like everything Kang Jin-Ho knew about cultivation and martial arts was being ripped apart into shreds.

Actually, he was wrong. It wasn't merely a feeling! As it turned out, highly compressed formless matter was practically the same as a physical object.

What's happening here should be nothing more than the Crimson King unleashing his qi out of anger. That was all. However, this situation wasn't as straightforward as that for Kang Jin-Ho, currently being subjected to the full on frontal assault by this qi!

Bang! Boom! Thud!

It felt like Kang Jin-Ho was being pounded by cannon shells! His body was getting crushed by the pressure alone.

Fuu-wuuut!

His internal organs nearly turned to mush, causing a spray of blood to gush out of his mouth. Kang Jin-Ho was left flabbergasted by this nonsensical development.

'Isn't this... Formless Qi?'

That was not an unfamiliar concept to Kang Jin-Ho.

Qi transformed from formless into tangible through a martial artist's intent. In that case, if a top-tier expert's will was raised to its absolute limits, wouldn't they be able to skip the middle process and instantly transform the formless into tangible?

Instead of relying on inefficient and energy-consuming methods like circulating qi to enhance one's physical strength, generate saber qi or trigger sword light, wouldn't such an expert be able to move qi with nothing but his mind and destroy their enemies?

Such a concept didn't sound logical at all. Indeed, it sounded as silly as chasing clouds, yet for the longest time... This topic remained one of the top aspirations of countless martial artists.

Some people called it Formless Qi, while some others called it Formless Sword. It certainly was unimaginably difficult to reach a high enough realm to freely use such techniques. However, superhuman experts who had reached that level obviously existed in Gangho, which shouldn't be surprising considering its lengthy and colorful history.

Still, Kang Jin-Ho had never met anyone who could rapidly fire a barrage of formless attacks simply by getting pissed off. No wonder he was left flabbergasted by this situation!

Did that mean the Crimson King was way, way stronger than all the experts Kang Jin-Ho had fought until now?

When that question entered his head, Kang Jin-Ho furrowed his brow. Because that couldn't be right. Obviously, the depths of the Crimson King's strength had not been revealed yet, but could he have greatly surpassed the realms reached by the experts of the ancient past like Shaolin's Hui Ren? Or Wudang's Taiji-zi? That didn't seem likely.

In that case, how could this phenomenon be explained?

'Could it be... Techniques have evolved and been improved upon?'

Kang Jin-Ho's expression stiffened for a moment just then.

Wasn't that rather obvious, in a way? As long as someone was willing to research and refine, then put in the requisite effort... Wouldn't martial arts continue to develop and improve?

There was no denying that martial arts' influence on the world had diminished over the generations. Even then, its fundamentals devolving and going backward should not happen. After all, humans were creatures that tried to evolve and improve their things one way or the other.

Since that was the case, it shouldn't be strange to think that theories and concepts of cultivation and martial art techniques would have been improved upon and gone through several iterations over the years. In fact, it was blindingly obvious the more Kang Jin-Ho thought about it.

The only reason why Kang Jin-Ho failed to accept this improvement in his heart sooner was due to how weak modern-era martial artists were compared to their ancient counterparts.

In his head, it was a simple enough equation. If martial arts had improved, the ones mastering them should be strong, too. But the martial artists Kang Jin-Ho encountered so far were weaklings compared to their ancestors. And their influence on the world was also pitiful, to say the least. As such... Their martial arts couldn't have improved.

However, this four-step chain of logic was now being ruthlessly ripped apart by the Crimson King's existence. This man was doing an exceptional job of engraving the improvements the martial arts had made during the past millennium into Kang Jin-Ho's entire being!

The demonic cultivation's ultimate goal was to surpass the limits of humanity and be reborn as a god existing in the mortal realm by absorbing and accumulating more and more of the world's existing qi. However, the goal of orthodox cultivation was for the cultivator to assimilate with the world's qi and eventually cast aside the shackles of their physical body to become one with nature itself.

Since the aim was different, the process would obviously be different, and it'd be the same story for the end result, too. The concept of Formless Qi belonged to the other camp, so Kang Jin-Ho hadn't fully understood it. Well, he hadn't reached a high enough realm in orthodox cultivation methods, after all.

This would be similar to how a top physicist would have trouble comprehending the research of a chemist. Even if they were both scientists, their fields of expertise or the topic of research were too disparate to be fully understandable by the other party.

Kang Jin-Ho raised his Crimson Destiny and Azuremourne to guard his torso from the continuing barrage of formless energy. In the end, Formless Qi was another way to manipulate energy. Since he now knew what he was dealing with, it shouldn't be hard to block this attack.

Bang! Clang! Thud!

The pair of swords vibrated unsteadily within Kang Jin-Ho's grip. The vibration traveled to his wrists, causing them to vibrate as well. And the wrist's vibration soon caused the rest of his arms to tremble, too. Eventually, Kang Jin-Ho's entire body vibrated as if he was having a seizure!

Even as he vibrated, Kang Jin-Ho couldn't help but smirk.

'This... is it!'

Yes, this was what he had been waiting for! This dull but heavy pain shooting from every corner of his body! This sense of danger that said even one mistake could lead to his head blowing up! And, finally...

Blood leaked out of Kang Jin-Ho's mouth to trickle down his chin and scatter on the ground below.

What Kang Jin-Ho felt right now was naked rage and desire to emerge victorious no matter the cost. He... He wanted to rip the Crimson King apart! He wanted to thrust the Crimson Destiny right into the Crimson King's throat and watch his victim's expression distort in pain and horror!

This... This killing intent! Yes, Kang Jin-Ho admitted it. This was sheer, unbridled killing intent. After slumbering for all these years deep within Kang Jin-Ho's heart, this thirst for bloodshed explosively gushed out to slice through the materialized fighting spirit and stab sharply into the Crimson King's flesh.

The Crimson King's expression distorted hideously at this chilling sensation of his skin being chopped up. "Kang... Jin... Hooooo!"

Kang Jin-Ho was unable to materialize killing intent like the Crimson King. Even so, his killing intent had already reached the extreme point where it could threaten the life of his opponent by slicing through them like real blades.

The two disparate auras, fighting spirit and killing intent, madly targeted each other and attacked nonstop.

At this precise moment... The Crimson King clenched his fists and charged straight at his enemy!

“Everyone, get back!” Kang Jin-Ho roared before also charging at the Crimson King.

Vator's complexion paled instantly at this scene, and he urgently yelled to the demonic cultivators. “All of you, get back! Hurry up, now!”

“I'm sorry?”

Everyone just stood around, confused and dazed. They failed to respond immediately to Vator's urgent yelling as the visceral spectacle before their eyes had numbed them with sheer shock.

“I said, get back! You goddamn idioooooots!”

Vator wasn't the type to stand still and shout at others. His thick legs moved like lightning bolts. He dashed toward the nearest demonic cultivators, then began grabbing and tossing them as far away as he could.

“S-Sir Vator?!”

The demonic cultivators panicked at the sudden opportunity to experience flying, but Vator didn't stop. He hurriedly threw whoever his hands could grab. And then, he spun around to face the front before powerfully planting both of his feet on the ground.

BOOM! BOOM!

With powerful stomps, Vator buried his legs deep into the ground, then spread his arms wide open before circulating his internal qi to its absolute limits.

His bloodshot eyes took in the sight of the Crimson Destiny and Azuremourne breaking through the invisible walls of aura to finally collide with the Crimson King's fist clad in pure-white fist light! And then... All the sounds existing in the world vanished instantly.

'...It stopped?'

Vator gasped. The sounds hadn't vanished. No, the world had come to a standstill instead!

No, that was also wrong. Vator could see everything moving bit by excruciating bit. So slow was their movement that Vator would have missed it if he hadn't kept his eyes wide open and closely scrutinized his surroundings.

'But, why?!'

What was this bizarre phenomenon?

Vator was obviously not a slow-witted man. He knew that everything in this world had a cause, a reason for its existence. He could see that the world hadn't stopped or slowed down to a crawl. At this point, it seemed rather clear what happened here. And that was...

Vator's mind had greatly sped up. Why did it happen, though?

Vator bit down on his lip. He strengthened his legs even more, then continued to rouse up every ounce of qi residing within his hulking frame. Because he knew something was coming.

…And that something was humongous and catastrophic and capable of killing Vator in one breath. His instincts had realized this before his brain could and responded by automatically pushing all of his abilities to their absolute limit.

His brain was now overclocked to the point of starting to shave away at his lifespan!

“U-uwaaaaaaaah!”

Even the loud roar bursting out of Vator's mouth sounded distorted and wrong, like music recorded on a stretched cassette tape. Just as he finished unleashing all of his qi toward his front to create a formless barrier, Vator saw something. That humongous and catastrophic something!

The world... The world was distorting!

The space where Kang Jin-Ho's crossed swords and the Crimson King's fist collided rippled unsteadily and began distorting and cracking. The rippling distortion was initially small and only engulfed the two men. However, it instantly expanded in every direction.

Like a movie scene where everything was slowed down only to be played back at double the speed, the shockwave that had been spreading lazily until then suddenly increased its radius and explosively expanded in the blink of an eye.

The incoming distortion slammed into the formless barrier of Vator. As it happened, Vator vividly felt everything. His qi barrier helplessly crumbled and shattered from the shockwave. Almost at the same time, his muscles got ripped apart strand by strand. Even his bones broke like rice crackers.

Vator's entire body rattled and spasmed. His gigantic pectoral muscles deflated like soft balloons. His granite-like abs twisted and churned like laundry being squeezed dry by a cleaning lady's experienced hands.

His lungs failed to withstand the pressure and tore apart, causing warm blood to gush out of his airways, unable to return to their original spots. Naturally, they traveled up his throat and spewed out of his mouth like an exploding crimson waterfall.

In the midst of all this, his body acted like a puppet with its strings cut, its limbs twisting and turning painfully in all sorts of angles. And then...

The world returned to its normal speed in the blink of an eye.

KA-BOOOOOOOM!!!

The shockwave lazily pushing back at Vator sped up and instantly engulfed him. And his hair suddenly went gray.

This incredible impact force! The force he had never, ever experienced before slammed into him without mercy. The fortress he had built, these tall and imposing fortress walls that no invader would dare attack, proved to be utterly helpless against the gigantic otherworldly storm.

The crushing winds of this storm brought the fortress walls down in a heap.

Vator's physique, the one Kang Jin-Ho had evaluated as godly and should not have an equal in this world... couldn't withstand the impact force and instantly got crushed and distorted before getting blown apart.

“Kuh-huuurk?!”

Vator couldn't even scream properly. He didn't have any strength left to force his vocal cords to produce sounds. While issuing that brief, barely audible death throe, the big man flew away in the air like a kite with its strings cut.

KWA-AAAAAAAAAH!

With Vator no longer there to stop the incoming storm, it became impossible for the people barely standing behind him to withstand the impact force. Everyone was literally sent flying away.

“Uwaaaaaahk?!”

“S-save me!”

They were hit by the power no mere mortal could resist. An unbelievable, miraculous spectacle was now unfolding before everyone's eyes. A spectacle where the clash of two humans had created a natural disaster!

In the blink of an eye, they were swept away. They were thrown aside, shoved back, and tangled into a mess as chaos ruled over everything.

The crowd of demonic cultivators failed to withstand the shockwave, causing them to crash into each other and get into a huge tangle of human bodies. They were shoved back, rolled on the ground and then slammed into the surroundings. Their bones snapped into pieces. Their clenched teeth broke and went flying out of their mouths. Severed tongues accompanied those broken teeth along with spit and blood.

“Vatoooooor!” Chang Min witnessed this destruction and hurriedly jumped up. He ably caught Vator's large body flying away like a stringless kite before landing safely back on the solid ground. And then... His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Vator's complexion was deathly pale. All the blood gushing out of his orifices turned his face into a mess.

'Just what...?!'

Chang Min's quaking eyes hurriedly looked up. The sight before him could only be described as pandemonium itself. It wasn't as if an army had attacked them, yet this place was completely destroyed as if a powerful bomb had detonated right in the center!

Just one exchange of moves by the demon emperor and the Crimson King had created this scene!

RUUUUUMBLE!

That was when Chang Min's hearing registered yet another loud impact noise. His head instinctively snapped toward the direction. And his brows shot up in shock.