When the Heart Is Evil, Even the Righteous Path Becomes Demonic. When the Heart Is Righteous, Even a Demonic Cult Holds Saints.

Warm yellow lamplight spilled over the bed, illuminating the gentle, vast green life force in the young man's palm.

As divine power circulated, wisps of vitality overflowed, falling upon Ye Guyi and quietly soothing the damaged meridians within her body, dissolving the lingering pain from her depleted soul power.

Such supremely benevolent, life-giving power was the natural nemesis of all evil, the source of the great Dao that nourished all things. It stood at the complete opposite pole from sinister, violent evil power!

Ye Guyi stared blankly at that glimmer of green light. For the first time, the understanding of good and evil she had upheld for more than a decade developed a world-shaking crack.

She bit her red lips. Her brows and eyes remained stubborn, but she no longer possessed the same unyielding confidence as before. In a low voice, she stubbornly retorted:

"But you admitted it yourself—you're from the Holy Spirit Cult!"

"The Holy Spirit Cult has been evil for generations, committing atrocities for a thousand years. It is occupied entirely by evil soul masters. This is an acknowledged fact throughout the world!"

"If you belong to a demonic cult, then you are an evil person! No matter what kind of power you possess, that cannot be changed!"

This was the ironclad rule that had been instilled in her since childhood, the principle carved into the bones of every righteous cultivator, and the foundation upon which her Holy Angel martial soul stood as she walked the righteous path!

Seeing how stubbornly unrepentant she was, completely shackled by worldly dogma, Li Changsheng's eyes flashed with faint mockery as he slowly withdrew the divine life power from his palm.

The green light faded, and the room returned to normal. Yet the lingering resonance of that vast, sacred power still hung in the air.

He leaned forward, looking down at the stunning girl on the bed, whose face was pale and flushed in turns, caught between fury and bewilderment. His tone was indifferent, but every word struck straight at her heart, completely tearing apart the hypocritical shell of righteousness and evil across the continent.

"An acknowledged fact?"

"Is everything the world acknowledges necessarily right?"

Ye Guyi froze, then instinctively looked up at him.

"The evil in your eyes is a dark martial soul, an origin in a demonic cult, and the cultivation of strange arts."

"But have you ever looked at people's hearts? Have you ever looked at the truth?"

Li Changsheng's voice was cold as he spoke slowly, every word overturning her understanding.

"The Holy Spirit Cult you claim has committed evil for centuries has long since been reformed."

"Several years ago, I issued an ironclad decree: the entire cult was forbidden from killing ordinary people, forbidden from devouring living souls, and forbidden from cultivating evil arts!"

"All vile and sinister cultivation methods were abolished. Bloodthirsty methods of cultivation were discarded. From this day forward, every disciple of the Holy Spirit Cult must rely on their own hard work to increase their strength and must not harm a single living being in this world!"

Ye Guyi's pupils contracted sharply, her face filled with disbelief. "Reformed? How is that possible? The Holy Spirit Cult has been deeply rooted for centuries. How could it turn from evil to righteousness overnight?"

"Naturally, because of me."

Li Changsheng looked perfectly composed, without the slightest attempt to conceal anything.

"I joined the Holy Spirit Cult and became its Holy Son, holding the power of life and death over the entire cult, commanding every elder and consecrated master, as well as tens of thousands of cult members.

"The four people you saw killed just now were trash who, after the reforms, still defied my orders and secretly slaughtered soul masters for cultivation."

"I spared your life, restrained them, and helped you kill your enemies for no other reason than that I was purging the remnants within the cult and cleansing the filth from this world!"

His words crashed through Ye Guyi's mind like thunder!

She sat completely stunned on the bed, her delicate body trembling slightly. The worldview that had been deeply ingrained in her for more than a decade was being torn apart, overturned, and reshaped bit by bit!

Since childhood, everything she had heard, learned, and believed had always been—

Holy Spirit Cult = evil fiends = deserving of death!

Evil soul masters = bloodthirsty = capable of every atrocity!

Yet everything happening before her had completely overturned every doctrine!

Someone in the Holy Spirit Cult was actually reforming from evil to righteousness!

Someone was actually strictly forbidding killing, purging evil, and rectifying the cult's rules!

Seeing her lost and bewildered expression, Li Changsheng continued coldly, tearing away the most hypocritical mask of the righteous path.

"You keep saying that righteousness and evil can never coexist, calling yourself an angel of righteousness who exterminates evil."

"Then let me ask you: all these years, when Shrek, which claims to be the orthodox force of light, labeled others evil soul masters based solely on a martial soul, where were you?"

"How many innocent people were branded as evil fiends by the righteous path, then hunted down and purged? How many truly evil people relied on the banner of orthodoxy to run rampant without restraint and escape justice?"

"If your martial soul were not the Holy Angel, but an ordinary martial soul with an evil attribute, and you were then hunted by righteous factions led by Shrek Academy, then in your heart, who would be righteous? Who would be evil?"

At his words, Ye Guyi's entire body went rigid.

Her lips moved, yet she could not utter even half a word in rebuttal.

She could not deny it.

After traveling the continent and gaining experience for many years, she had long vaguely realized that the so-called righteous path was not entirely bright, nor were the so-called evil fiends necessarily all vicious.

She simply had never dared to think too deeply about it, unwilling to shatter the Dao heart she had always upheld.

"The distinction between righteousness and evil has never lain in one's sect, martial soul, or reputation."

Li Changsheng's gaze was profound as he spoke faintly, stating an eternal truth.

"When the heart is evil, even the righteous path becomes demonic. When the heart is righteous, even a demonic cult holds saints."

"You condemned me as an evil soul master based on nothing more than the name Holy Spirit Cult. You did not distinguish black from white, seek the truth, or ask for the reason. You simply drew your sword and tried to kill me."

"You are so stubborn and foolish, your eyes blinded by worldly prejudice. How are you any different from those mediocre people who kill blindly?"

"Think about what the continent was like ten thousand years ago, when Spirit Hall still existed, and how they judged evil soul masters!"

That question struck directly at her soul!

Ye Guyi's face instantly turned deathly pale, and her mind was violently shaken.

That was right...

Just now, this person had clearly saved her.

This person clearly possessed supreme divine life power, killed evil scum, and rectified the chaos within a demonic cult.

Yet based on nothing but a name, she had rashly pronounced him guilty and drawn her sword against him without another word.

She was the stubborn one. She was narrow-minded. She had allowed rigid distinctions between righteousness and evil to blind her eyes!

At that thought, overwhelming shame, guilt, and shock instantly drowned her mind.

Her anger, indignation, and hatred from moments ago all vanished like smoke, leaving only chaos and unbearable embarrassment.

She bit her lips. A clear red handprint still marked her snowy cheek, while humiliation, bashfulness, and shock intertwined, making her eyes redden slightly.

Yet the Dao heart she had upheld for years had already split open with a massive crack.

So...

The righteousness and evil she had always believed in had been wrong all along.

People in a demonic cult were not necessarily evil.

Beneath the banner of light and orthodoxy lay nothing but filth and hypocrisy.

Watching the girl's utterly lost appearance as her worldview collapsed, Li Changsheng remained indifferent without the slightest softening of heart as he concluded calmly:

"Remember today."

"From now on, do not judge righteousness and evil by martial souls, or determine good and evil by names."

"Otherwise, next time, what you suffer may not be merely a slap."

Compared to the so-called Shrek Academy, Ye Guyi's worldview was more important.

After all, her martial soul was the Holy Angel, which inherently represented sanctity and light.

If she also judged people according to Shrek Academy's methods, there would only be more and more evil soul masters in this world.