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‘Should I kill this bastard?’

Of course, something like that must not happen. He shouldn\'t even think about it. Imagine what might happen if Zhu Gang went ahead and created a scene here! He\'d be \'honored\' by the demon emperor personally descending to this place and ripping his limbs apart!

‘Fuu-woo…! Calm down, Zhu Gang. Calm down…’

These people trying to chat to him in a slimy, detestable way were not at fault, anyway. They were simply trying to express their friendliness, that was all. They had been working together for a while now, after all. So Zhu Gang should be more \'understanding\' toward what they said and did.

But Zhu Gang was still angry. And the reason for his blood boiling was this singular dissatisfaction eating away at his inside.

“Dammit!” Zhu Gang roughly put down the cement bag from his back.

Boom!

The weighty cement bag falling to the floor kicked up dust clouds in every direction.

“Oii, Mr. Zhu, be careful with that now. The bag might burst!”

“Dammit! Who cares if it does?!”

Wong Lung tutted at the unexpectedly rough response and walked up to Zhu Gang. “Hey! What\'s the matter with you? What are you so unhappy about?”

“Isn\'t it obvious? I didn\'t swim all the way to Korea just to work in construction, you know!”

“We’re trying to build our own homes, aren’t we?”

“Our homes?” Zhu Gang snorted derisively. “I already have a home back in China. I didn’t come here to live in a slightly better house, okay?”

“Well, that is true, but…”

Zhu Gang trudged to the corner before plopping down on his butt. “Goddamn it… Just how many days have we been doing this sh*t?”

Truth be told, Zhu Gang wasn\'t dissatisfied with having to work on this construction project. He didn\'t come to South Korea to kick back and relax, after all. In all honesty, he was prepared to do things that were tougher and much more extreme than lugging some cement around.

What frustrated him was how this hard labor had absolutely nothing to do with him getting stronger.

Zhu Gang was figuratively dying to inherit demonic cultivation methods and become stronger as soon as possible, yet his precious days were being wasted on doing hard labor like this. No wonder his sense of loss, this sense of deprivation, was indescribable.

Zhu Gang groaned while rubbing his forehead. “Just what is our demon emperor thinking? What is his plan?”

“I\'m sure he\'s got a good reason for what’s going on here,” said Wong Lung. “Let\'s not forget, our liege never planned to bring us to Korea. With so many people having crossed the border… Don\'t you get how generous it is for him to build homes for us to stay in?”

How could Zhu Gang not know that?

There was no need to doubt the demon emperor\'s strength. He was incredibly powerful. No one in the demon cult would dare express their doubts over the demon emperor\'s attainment in demonic arts.

They had witnessed the truth with their own eyes, after all!

The Crimson King was a powerful expert who split the world into three and ruled over his portion like an actual king. Yet the demon emperor not only matched the Crimson King but even pushed the latter into a corner several times, too.

After witnessing all that, how could anyone doubt the demon emperor and his capabilities?

According to Elder Chang Min, the demon emperor was still in the process of regaining the strength from his past self. Given enough time, he’d grow strong enough to trample the Crimson King underfoot.

The demon emperor’s legendary tales that the demon cult and its believers dreamed of seeing one day… were being brought to life in the modern era!

That was enough for Zhu Gang to bet his life and follow the demon emperor to the ends of Earth. Even if he was forced to wear nothing but tattered rags and lived in makeshift tents after reaching South Korea, Zhu Gang still wouldn\'t have been dissatisfied with his situation.

Hell, even if the demon emperor let the demonic cultivators loose in some nameless forest and told them to survive on their own, Zhu Gang would\'ve gladly chopped some trees down and built himself a crude home to live in.

Zhu Gang was prepared to deal with anything as long as he could receive demonic cultivation methods and become stronger. Even if he couldn’t reach the lofty heights of the demon emperor, just being able to catch up to the shadows of the mighty leader of the demon cult would’ve been enough to satisfy him.

But the demon emperor… turned out to be wealthier than Zhu Gang thought.

In the martial world, \'strength\' and \'wealth\' were synonyms. The stronger you were, the more ways you\'d have to rake in money. Average people couldn\'t even begin to imagine the amount of money the renowned experts made.

Even so, Kang Jin-Ho\'s wealth easily surpassed all that.

‘Who knew he’d actually build an entire village?’

Not only that, but in the middle of a mountain, no less? Building nice places to live for the folks who could’ve been dumped somewhere out of the way and used like tools was an action worthy of thousands of praises.

Selflessly investing such a large sum of money? That was easier said than done. If you were the one paying, you’d be having a heart attack by now.

Zhu Gang was deeply awed and moved by the demon emperor’s abilities and generosity. Unfortunately, those two qualities weren’t what Zhu Gang hoped to see from the demon emperor.

What Zhu Gang wished for was to become stronger as soon as possible, even if that meant he must sleep rough every night and gnaw at the roots of weeds to survive!

“Fuu-woo…!”

Zhu Gang let out a deep sigh. How could he keep moaning like a child when he knew all these things happened only because the demon emperor cared about them?

‘But… How long are we supposed to do this?’

How long would it take to fully build this village? And would he have to keep working here until then? The thought of wasting time like this for who knows how long was what frustrated Zhu Gang to no end.

Wong Lung tutted again. “Come on, now. You know the demon emperor has a plan.”

“Yeah, I know. But…”

“Listen here, you brat. Did you forget how much money\'s been already sunk into you? Anyone with morals shouldn\'t be dissatisfied with what\'s happened to us.”

“I told you, I know already. Dammit…” Zhu Gang grunted in irritation while pushing himself off the floor.

Knowing how generous the demon emperor had been, Zhu Gang couldn\'t even express his dissatisfaction. Even so… He couldn\'t be the only person thinking about this. Everyone must be dissatisfied to some degree.

“Hey, Zhu Gang! You up there?”

Someone suddenly called out to Zhu Gang from the ground below. Zhu Gang frowned in irritation and peeked his head over the unfinished wall to look below. “Who is it?”

“The higher-ups are looking for you. Come on down right away!”

“Who is it this time?” Zhu Gang’s frown deepened.

Ever since the day he acted like a chauffeur to the demon emperor, Zhu Gang’s profile had gone through the proverbial roof. Even the elders seemed to view him as the spokesperson for the younger demonic cultivators.

Having a higher profile certainly had its ups, but the downs were at least ten times worse. For instance, elders always called for Zhu Gang whenever something happened. So, something else must’ve happened this time, too…

“Apparently, the demon emperor was looking for you?”

“What?!” Zhu Gang sobered up immediately, then unhesitantly jumped out of the opening. After landing completely unscathed from this three-floor drop, Zhu Gang urgently looked at the messenger. “Who did you say it was?”

“The demon emperor, man! Hurry up and go!”

“Y-yeah, thanks! I’m on my way now!”

Zhu Gang sprinted toward the Martial Assembly HQ as fast as he could.

***

Reaching the Assembly Master’s office took longer than Zhu Gang would have liked.

There was some distance between the construction area and the Martial Assembly, and most people would have to use a car to travel between the two. However, martial artists could easily run that distance thanks to their sturdy legs.

What delayed Zhu Gang wasn’t the distance, but his attempt to make himself more presentable by washing up and changing his clothes first. Even if Zhu Gang was a demonic cultivator with a don’t-care attitude, he couldn’t show up to a meeting with the demon emperor in his dust-covered overalls, now could he!

After checking his current appearance one more time, Zhu Gang sucked in a deep breath, then stared at the office’s entrance. Beyond this doorway was the demon emperor, Kang Jin-Ho.

Zhu Gang sucked in another deep breath, then approached the doorway. “This is Zhu Gang, my liege. I’ve come to answer your summons.”

“Okay. Come in.”

The response was swift. Zhu Gang sucked in another lungful of air before cautiously opening the door and entering the office. He could see Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su sitting on the couches.

This sight instinctively stiffened every muscle fiber in Zhu Gang’s body.

‘He feels totally different now.’

Kang Jin-Ho was giving off a pretty relaxed air. Compared to when he was in China, he seemed to be more at home. And had more leeway.

But the pressure Zhu Gang felt was even harsher and heavier than before.

Kang Jin-Ho’s prestige in Zhu Gang’s mind had gone up even higher after that incredible battle against the Crimson King. Which explained why he was so tense and even subtly trembling right now.

Kang Jin-Ho nodded. “Why don’t you take a seat?”

Zhu Gang creaked and staggered like a worn-out robot and stiffly perched his butt on the spot Kang Jin-Ho pointed at.

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled slightly at how nervous Zhu Gang was. “Do you think you\'ve walked into a tiger\'s den?”

“N-no, my liege.”

“In that case, don\'t be too nervous. We didn\'t call you for something serious, anyway.”

“Oh, uh… Understood, sir.”

It probably was not something serious… At least from Kang Jin-Ho’s perspective, that was!

However, how could a private relax after entering the division commander’s office? At least a private would be discharged one day, but Zhu Gang didn’t have that luxury. He was destined to stay with the demon cult for the rest of his life, after all!

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Zhu Gang. “Want coffee or green tea? What else do we have?”

Lee Hyeon-Su quickly replied, “We also have juice and Cola, sir.”

“Okay. Choose what you want. What will it be?”

Zhu Gang hurriedly shook his head. “I-I’m fine. Thank you.”

“What will it be?”

“Uhm, uh… Maybe juice…?”

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Lee Hyeon-Su next, prompting the latter to open the nearby mini fridge and take out a juice bottle. After pouring the liquid into a cup, he placed it in front of Zhu Gang. “Here you go.”

However, Zhu Gang simply stared at the drink without budging an inch.

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “Mm? You don’t want to drink it?”

“A-ah, no. That’s not it, my liege,” said Zhu Gang, then added an unnecessary explanation afterward. “I’ll definitely choke if I drink this now, so I, uh, will do that later, my liege.”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled while nodding away. If talking could relax the atmosphere, nervousness would\'ve been a thing of the past. Getting to the main topic as soon as possible should benefit Zhu Gang\'s mental health immensely.

“As I said, it\'s not anything serious. The thing is, we\'re about to get things started for real, you see?”

When Kang Jin-Ho said that, Zhu Gang\'s eyes powerfully quaked. “W-when you say it\'s about to start…?”

“Mhm. It is what you think.”

“D-demonic cultivation…!”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s the reason why you all were brought into South Korea, after all.”

Zhu Gang’s body began shuddering grandly. Here it was! The thing he so desperately wanted to hear! How could he sit still when his cautious hope turned into a reality? His legs couldn’t remain still and inadvertently forced him to stand up.

“B-but, you will directly teach me, my liege?”

Even as those words left his mouth, Zhu Gang realized how absurd that notion was.

“No, that’s not how we will do this,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“Oh, I see. As expected. That wouldn\'t make sense, after all…” Zhu Gang muttered meekly while sitting back down.

“...Calm down first, okay?”

“Y-yes, my liege! I\'m calm, sir!” Zhu Gang replied loudly, his jaw clattering. Even then, he remained sitting upright, his head held high as if to demonstrate how \'calm\' he was!

Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head. “I didn’t call you here to discuss the issue of handing over the demonic cultivation. I wanted to find something out first before that.”

“I see! Whatever you wish to know, I will answer to the best of my abilities, my liege!”

“You don’t have to answer anything,” Kang Jin-Hu chuckled again, then beckoned at Zhu Gang. “I have to take a look personally, after all.”

“...I’m sorry?”

“Come sit over here. I need to analyze your condition.”

“Yessir!”

Zhu Gang had no idea what was going on. However, he only needed to obey. To a man who was prepared to jump into a pit of Hellfire without hesitation, this kind of command was too easy to follow.

Zhu Gang rapidly sat in front of Kang Jin-Ho.

“Okay, turn around,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“Yes, my liege!” Zhu Gang replied spiritedly and turned around to present his back.

Kang Jin-Ho placed his hand on Zhu Gang’s head. “It’s going to hurt a bit.”

“…”

Zhu Gang didn’t even have the time to respond. Before he could reply, something hot began trickling out of Kang Jin-Ho’s hand to enter Zhu Gang’s head.

‘Kuh-eeeeuuuuh…!’

Zhu Gang clamped his mouth shut and gritted his teeth at this absurdly horrifying pain. Kang Jin-Ho’s invading qi acted like a sharp blade stabbing and slicing through every part of Zhu Gang’s painfully shivering body.

Only after circulating through every corner of the victim’s body did this invading qi return to Kang Jin-Ho’s hand.

“Fuu-huuuwuk!” Zhu Gang spat out a heavy gasp after the horrifying pain ruling over his senses abruptly went away.

“Hmm…” Kang Jin-Ho pondered something for a bit before nodding slightly. “It might be doable at this level.”

“...I’m sorry?” Zhu Gang confusedly glanced behind.

“You said you wanted to become stronger, didn’t you?”

Zhu Gang didn’t reply. Then again, was there a need to? His tightly-clenched teeth and bloodshot eyes were an ample-enough reply, anyway.

“Very good. Prepare yourself, then. It’ll begin soon.”

The words Zhu Gang had been waiting to hear for so long were repeated again. Zhu Gang tightly clenched his fists and bowed deeply at Kang Jin-Ho. “I shall follow you even if it means death!”

Lee Hyeon-Su grimaced and squeezed his eyes when he heard that.

‘Dude. You shouldn’t carelessly say such things around here…’

It seemed Zhu Gang still had no idea. No idea what kind of person Kang Jin-Ho was!

“Very good,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

...And Lee Hyeon-Su slowly shook his head after spotting the ominous smile on Kang Jin-Ho\'s face.

Why did it feel like Lee Hyeon-Su has seen quite a few people falling for this routine and ending up in the depths of Hell more often lately?