“Here... we... go!”
Zhu Gang energetically carried large bags of cement.
‘Just how many of these bags are still there? It’s practically endless!’
Even though Zhu Gang was a martial artist possessing a physique far surpassing that of average men his age, his life still remained a tough slog.
The reason for that was simple enough.
Slap! Plop! Plop!
One by one, cement bags began piling on the specially-constructed jige on Zhu Gang’s back.[1]
“What the...?”
Slap! Plop! Plop!
Even before he could say something, ten-plus cement bags piled up on the jige first.
Zhu Gang frowned deeply. “I’m still a human being, you know...?”
“Nah, you can do it, fella. You can do it!”
“Come on, now. Don’t say that. I’m...”
“No. You can do it.”
Words weren’t getting through, it seemed!
While most proficient laborers could lug around three, maybe four cement bags in one go, the demon cult's 'workforce', including Zhu Gang, could carry a dozen of them.
‘Gimme a break. I’m dying here!’
Being a martial artist didn't mean one's body was made out of solid forged steel, though! The more one pushed one's body, the sooner it'd break. And past a certain point, even a martial artist would fall ill.
Unfortunately for Zhu Gang, these bastards seemed to think of martial artists as all-purpose slaves that would never break, no matter how severe the work was!
“Urgh...!”
Zhu Gang let out a pained groan while sliding himself into the packed jige's straps. However, his eyes were still burning sharply.
‘Only a little more to go, and then...!’
It was reality, not hard labor, that drove many people insane. No matter how tough or unforgiving the work was, people could endure if they had ‘hope.’
Hope that this sh*tty work could improve their reality somehow!
This was why salarymen endured life within large corporations infamous for saddling their workforce with a hellish amount of work.
Depending on one's outlook on the future, the same amount of work would feel different. That was why...!
“Here we... go!”
Zhu Gang powerfully got up to his feet. This level of hard labor was nothing to him.
‘After all, our demon emperor is also doing his best, isn’t he?’
Anyone with functioning eyes should be able to see it for themselves. The demon emperor was clearly a lot busier than when the demon cult had just entered South Korea.
The demon cult elders were getting pummeled every day... Including today, too. The premise was that the end result would be bleedingly obvious if the teachers didn't know their subjects well. So, the demon emperor had been thoroughly pounding those poor old men every single day for a while now.
It’d never be easy for folks at that age to learn something new. Worse still, the method of learning was quite humiliating for them, too. They got beaten up, kicked around, and kissed the dirt so many times that even Zhu Gang felt sorry for the elders’ plight!
Even then, these elders didn’t express dissatisfaction. Actually, they were clearly burning even brighter in the flames of motivation!
Seventy-plus-year-old senior citizens were readily dusting themselves up, their eyes sparkling like three-year-olds! As if they were actively enjoying getting beaten up and rolling around in dirt so much!
Was it because the elders had gone mad? Of course not!
“No one has witnessed this demonic art before!”
“I had no doubt the demonic art imparted to us by the demon emperor would be nothing short of extraordinary, but this thing goes way beyond that!”
“This demonic art...! With this, the demon cult can finally achieve everlasting glory and domination!”
This training should be tough and painful for those elders. However, they saw hope from the demonic art the demon emperor had given them. They now could believe that their future, and the demon cult's future, could change with this cultivation method.
‘Things must’ve been hard for them, too.’
Zhu Gang also despaired from his situation. It wasn't just him, though, but pretty much every demon cult member was stuck in the same mindset as him. However, when he thought about the situation a bit more, their despair should be nothing compared to what the elders must've felt.
At least the regular demon cult believers like Zhu Gang had a choice. They could abandon the cult to live an ordinary life or join another sect. Even if doing so wouldn't be easy, the options were still available.
However, the elders couldn’t do that. How could they abandon a sect they had devoted their entire life to? It was impossible. And choosing to lead a new life at their advanced age was just as impossible. As such, their despair must’ve been even worse.
Their future had no hope of improving. Their situation was only getting worse. And they had no choice but to accept this reality and cling to the old glory.
Zhu Gang had only spent around two decades of his life in the demon cult, yet he still felt this much despair. That was why he could never adequately guess how much worse it was for the elders who spent most of their lives with the cult.
But now, the demonic cultivation method developed by Kang Jin-Ho landed in front of these elders. Forget calling it the demonic art, it should really be called Hope, instead!
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