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

Upon hearing this, Ye Guyi blinked, wondering if she had misheard.

What do you mean by "I want to become the number one evil spirit master in the world"?

Is this a reasonable excuse?

"What?"

Li Qing sighed, seemingly finding the explanation troublesome, but having no other choice, he could only say again, "I said, I want to become the number one evil soul master in the world."

"But you just killed three evil spirit masters," Ye Guyi pointed out this obvious fact.

"so what?"

"So—" Ye Guyi stammered.

Her logic told her that the two things contradicted each other, but looking at Li Qing's matter-of-fact expression, she suddenly became uncertain.

Just then, the sound of orderly footsteps came from afar.

That was the Mingdu Guard arriving after hearing the commotion.

"Let's leave here first." Li Qing turned and left without hesitation.

Ye Guyi hesitated for a moment, then followed.

Her intuition told her that this boy named Li Qing was hiding a huge secret, and her curiosity—or rather, her responsibility as the inheritor of the Holy Angel Martial Soul—made it impossible for her to leave.

After all, if the other party really wanted to attack me, I wouldn't be able to leave.

The two walked through the night.

Li Qing's familiarity with the alleyways of Mingdu was astonishing.

After many twists and turns, they arrived at an unremarkable hotel.

Li Qing walked straight to the counter and tossed out a bag of gold soul coins.

"Two rooms, on the top floor, somewhere quiet."

"Alright!" The shopkeeper glanced at Ye Guyi, who was following behind Li Qing, and gave her an ambiguous smile before handing her the key.

Ye Guyi's cheeks flushed slightly, but she didn't say anything.

Only after entering the room and closing the door did she speak: "Now you can tell me, right? Who exactly are you?"

The room wasn't big, but it was clean.

Li Qing sat down on the sofa and then began to carefully examine the girl in front of him.

The pale gold dress was torn in several places, revealing her fair skin and subtle curves.

Her face was exquisitely beautiful, and her golden hair shone even in the dim light, but now it was stained with dust and blood.

The most striking feature was his eyes.

It was pure gold, and it was watching him warily, like a frightened but still proud fledgling eagle.

"I already said that."

Li Qing leaned back on the sofa and replied, "My name is Li Qing, an evil spirit master."

"But you killed the evil spirit master," Ye Guyi insisted.

"That's right." Li Qing nodded, not denying it.

"So you have a grudge against them?" Ye Guyi asked suspiciously.

"No," Li Qing shook his head, indicating that he did not know her.

Upon hearing this, Ye Guyi felt that her brain wasn't quite working properly.

She walked to the chair opposite Li Qing and sat down, her gold high-heeled boots clicking crisply on the floor.

"Then why did you kill them?"

She asked, puzzled, "If you really are an evil spirit master, shouldn't you join forces to deal with me?"

Li Qing tilted his head, seemingly thinking about how to explain it in the simplest language.

After a moment, he said, "Because they are evil spirit masters, and I want to become the number one evil spirit master."

"What's the connection between these two?"

Ye Guyi was completely bewildered and asked in a daze, "If you want to become the number one evil soul master, shouldn't you cultivate by killing people to increase your strength? Just like them—"

She pointed out the window, indicating the three people from earlier.

"That's something only good-for-nothings do."

Li Qing replied with undisguised contempt, "Using the killing of mortals and the absorption of their soul power to increase cultivation? Low-level, boring, and inefficient."

Ye Guyi raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "Then what is the more advanced method?"

This was the first time she had heard someone describe an evil spirit master in this way, which inevitably piqued her curiosity.

A strange light flashed in Li Qing's eyes, a light that made Ye Guyi's heart tremble for no reason.

"Of course, we should kill all these evil spirit masters."

His tone was as calm as if he were discussing what to have for dinner. He slowly said, "Think about it, don't these evil spirit masters demonstrate their evil by killing people to cultivate and committing countless atrocities? If I kill them all, I'll prove that I'm more evil and more powerful than them. Then, wouldn't I be the number one evil spirit master in the world?"

The room fell into dead silence.

Ye Guyi opened her mouth, then closed it again.

She blinked, then blinked again.

A few seconds later, she finally found her voice: "...What did you say?"

"I said, I want to kill all the evil spirit masters in the world, so that I will be the most evil one." Li Qing patiently repeated, as if teaching a child that one plus one equals two.

Ye Guyi stared at him, her golden eyes wide open.

She carefully examined Li Qing's expression—there was no joking, no teasing, only an almost naive seriousness.

"No, wait—"

She rubbed her forehead, feeling her worldview shattered, and asked, "Your logic... how did you connect killing all the evil spirit masters with becoming the number one evil spirit master?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

Li Qing, instead, wore a puzzled expression and countered, "Evil Soul Masters compete on who's more evil, right? Those good-for-nothings prove their evil by killing mortals, but what are mortals anyway? No matter how many they kill, they're still just weaklings. But if I specialize in killing evil Soul Masters, and specifically those notorious and wicked ones—doesn't that prove I'm more evil and stronger than them?"

He paused, then added, "Moreover, doing this can also clean house and improve the overall quality of the evil spirit master community. After all, trash doesn't deserve to be called an evil spirit master."

Ye Guyi was completely speechless.

She looked at Li Qing, this handsome young man who seemed otherworldly, as he spoke the most absurd words in the most earnest tone.

But his logic is frighteningly self-consistent.

"so…"

After an unknown amount of time, she finally managed to speak with difficulty: "You killed evil spirit masters to... prove that you were a better evil spirit master?"

"That's one way to understand it."

Li Qing nodded and explained, "Of course, it was just a coincidence today. I was gathering information on the evil spirit masters of Mingdu and happened to be passing by."

Ye Guyi remained silent for a long time.

The sounds of the bustling Mingdu Night Market drifted in from outside the window, sounding almost unreal.

"So what are your plans next?"

She asked, "Continue killing evil spirit masters?"

"certainly."

Li Qing nodded, not hiding anything, and replied, "I've made a list, starting from Mingdu, to clean up all the famous evil spirit masters on the continent. Once I've eliminated everyone at the top of the list, I'll be number one."

As he said this, his eyes gleamed with a passion that Ye Guyi could not comprehend—a dedication to an ideal, even if that ideal was utterly absurd.

"you……"

Ye Guyi took a deep breath and tentatively asked, "You know I have the Holy Angel Martial Soul, right? My mission is to eliminate evil soul masters."

"I know."

Li Qing nodded, blinked, and asked疑惑地问道, "So?"

"So you're saying all this in front of me, aren't you afraid I'll..." She didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear.