Douluo Continent: Who says evil soul masters can't achieve sainthood through merit?

The night sky over Mingdu was shrouded in dark clouds, with moonlight occasionally filtering through the gaps and casting dappled shadows in the dilapidated alleyways.

The capital of the Sun and Moon Empire is bustling and noisy during the day, but in some remote corners, it is a breeding ground for evil spirit masters.

Three dark figures surrounded a blonde girl deep in an alley, the air thick with the stench of blood.

"Holy Angel Martial Soul...tsk tsk, if I'm not mistaken, the woman with the Holy Angel that the three of us brothers killed back then was your mother, wasn't she?"

The middle-aged man at the head licked his chapped lips, his scarlet eyes filled with greed and excitement, and said, "Little girl, do you know? Your mother was just as stubborn before she died. It's a pity that she still became the main soul on my Blood Infant Banner in the end."

Ye Guyi's delicate body trembled, and a raging fire instantly ignited in her golden eyes: "You... killed my mother?"

"It's not just your mother."

The tall, thin evil spirit master on the left chuckled sinisterly, "Which spirit master targeted by the Three Fiends can escape? Boss, enough talk. This little girl's martial spirit is extremely beneficial to our cultivation. Let's take her down before the guards arrive!"

The three of them simultaneously released their spirit rings—the spirit rings pulsed around their bodies.

Two yellow and two purple, all of them were Soul Master level cultivators!

Ye Guyi only had three spirit rings around her, two yellow and one purple, and her spirit power fluctuations were noticeably weaker.

She gritted her teeth, and golden wings unfurled from her back, illuminating half the alley with a holy light, which only fueled the ferocity of the evil spirit masters.

"Third Soul Skill: Divine Judgment!"

The golden lightsaber was unleashed, but it was easily blocked by the leading evil spirit master with a bone shield.

The force of the recoil forced Ye Guyi back several steps, and a metallic taste rose in her throat.

"A Soul Master versus a Soul Sect Master, or three against one? Little girl, you're too naive."

The middle-aged man laughed heartily and said excitedly, "Once you fall into our hands, we'll definitely 'train' you properly, turning this holy angel into our plaything!"

The foul language made Ye Guyi's pretty face turn pale. She had thought about running away, but her mother's enemy was right in front of her. If she retreated now, she would never be able to forgive herself for the rest of her life.

"I'll fight you to the death!" Ye Guyi's eyes flashed with determination, and golden light surged around her—she actually intended to burn her soul power source for a final gamble!

Just then, an indescribable aura of destruction descended from the sky.

It wasn't the bloodshed and resentment commonly found in evil spirit masters, but a pure darkness that seemed to want to end everything.

The temperature in the alley plummeted, black ice crystals condensed on the walls, and the air seemed to freeze.

The smiles of the three evil spirit masters froze on their faces.

A black lotus flower appeared before Ye Guyi without warning. The petals slowly rotated, and with each rotation, the surrounding darkness intensified.

The lotus flower was small, yet it seemed to devour all the light, even dimming the sacred radiance of Ye Guyi.

"What is that?!" the tall, thin evil spirit master exclaimed.

"Playing tricks!" The middle-aged man in the lead activated his bone shield to protect himself, but a strong sense of unease rose in his heart.

The aura emanating from this black lotus even made this evil soul master, who reveled in killing, feel a chill in his heart.

Footsteps came from the darkness.

A young man in black robes slowly stepped out of the shadows.

He looked no more than eleven or twelve years old, with black hair and black eyes.

What is most striking is that the eerie black lotus is floating in the palm of his right hand.

The boy didn't even glance at the three evil soul masters, but walked straight to Ye Guyi's side and looked her up and down.

"The Holy Angel Martial Soul... is quite rare."

The boy's voice was calm as still water, yet carried an undeniable authority: "Stand at the back, don't get in the way."

Ye Guyi was taken aback. She should have been angry at the other party's rudeness, but the aura of that black lotus was too strange, causing her to subconsciously take a half step back.

"Hey kid, who are you?"

The middle-aged evil spirit master shouted sternly, "How dare you meddle in the affairs of the 'Three Fiends'? Are you tired of living?"

The boy finally turned his gaze to the three of them, his dark eyes completely expressionless: "You can die now."

"Arrogant!"

The three evil soul masters attacked simultaneously—the Blood Infant Banner was waved amidst mournful cries, the bone shield transformed into countless bone spikes, and the third person's martial soul was a Corrupting Poison Spider King, spewing out a sky full of poisonous webs.

The combined attack of the three Soul Masters was enough to make even ordinary Soul Kings temporarily retreat.

The boy didn't even release his spirit rings.

He simply raised his hand, and the black lotus in his palm slowly rose into the air.

The moment the lotus petals bloomed, an invisible ripple spread outwards.

Those bone spurs, poisonous nets, and blood shadows, upon contact with the ripples, melted away silently, like snowflakes meeting the blazing sun.

"Impossible!" The middle-aged evil spirit master's pupils shrank suddenly.

The next moment, the black lotus trembled slightly, and three black beams shot out, accurately piercing through the right shoulders of the three people.

There was no blood splattering; the hit area turned to ashes, leaving three bowl-sized holes.

A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the alley.

Ye Guyi gasped.

She could clearly see that the black lotus's attack not only destroyed their physical bodies, but also rapidly eroded the soul power of the three of them—what a domineering martial soul this was!

"Who...who are you?!" The tall, thin evil spirit master collapsed to the ground, clutching the wound on his shoulder, his eyes filled with terror.

The boy didn't answer, but instead glanced back at Ye Guyi: "You kill them."

"What?" Ye Guyi thought she had misheard.

"Your martial spirit is effective against evil spirit masters. Killing them will increase your cultivation level."

The boy spoke matter-of-factly, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world, urging, "Hurry up, the guards are almost here."

Ye Guyi looked at the three people groaning on the ground, then at the boy's calm face, and felt a sense of absurdity.

This boy, who is suspected of being an evil spirit master, actually asked her, a spirit master with the Holy Angel Martial Soul, to kill an evil spirit master.

But she didn't hesitate for long.

Her mother's blood feud and the mission of the holy angel both fueled her deep hatred for evil spirit masters.

A golden lightsaber materialized in her hand, and with a single, clean strike, she ended the lives of the three.

As the evil spirit master died, three pure golden light spots flew out from their bodies and merged into Ye Guyi's body.

She felt her soul power increase significantly, getting closer and closer to level 40.

"What a monstrous martial spirit." The young man nodded thoughtfully and commented.

"you……"

Ye Guyi looked at the unfamiliar young man before her, carefully choosing her words, and asked first, "Who are you?"

The boy looked up at her, his dark eyes like deep pools, and replied, "Li Qing."

Why did you help me?

She pressed on, "No, you just said you weren't helping me. Then why...?"

"Because they are evil spirit masters."

Li Qing put away the black lotus as casually as if he were putting away an ordinary object, and explained, "And I want to become the number one evil soul master in the world."