Once an Evil Soul Master, Always an Evil Soul Master!

"The Spirit Pagoda?!"

Cries of shock rose from the crowd.

If Soul Masters were beings ordinary people could only look up to, then the Spirit Pagoda was a colossus in the world of Soul Masters, a superpower that towered over all of Douluo Star.

Never mind that they were only ordinary people.

Even experts at the Titled Douluo level would not dare offend the Spirit Pagoda.

After all,

the Spirit Pagoda controlled the world's Soul Spirits, effectively holding the lifeline of every Soul Master's advancement in its grasp.

The burly Evil Soul Master shakily rose to his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood, along with two shattered teeth.

"Fucking hell..."

Despair welled up in the burly Evil Soul Master's heart.

"I was wondering where a little brat with such terrifying strength came from. So you're from the Spirit Pagoda."

"Heh. Looks like I'll die at your hands today."

The burly man coughed twice, his presence flagging.

Li Zha loosely curled his right hand, ready to summon the Fire-Tipped Spear at any moment.

Through his [Lotus Body]'s perception, Li Zha could detect the tension in the man's leg muscles.

That meant everything the man said was a deliberate act. He was clearly preparing for a desperate last stand.

Sure enough,

the next instant,

the burly man suddenly sprang into action, darting into the crowd and grabbing a middle-aged woman.

"Aah!!"

The crowd panicked and scattered in all directions.

The burly Evil Soul Master gripped the woman's neck with his left hand. The finger bones of his right hand suddenly protruded through his flesh, forming sharp bone blades that he pressed against her carotid artery.

"Stay back! Come any closer and I'll kill her!"

The burly man grinned savagely.

"H-help me! Lord Soul Master, save me!"

Taken hostage, the woman's legs immediately went limp as noodles, and her body sagged toward the floor.

Rather than choking her, the burly man was practically holding her up.

"Back off! Back off, or I'll do it!"

As he shouted, the burly man rapidly backed toward the carriage behind him.

But Li Zha merely chuckled. The Fire-Tipped Spear appeared in his right hand, and he charged straight at him.

"That's hilarious. She's the one you grabbed. Why should we back off?"

The burly man's eyes widened.

Seriously, buddy?

Are you in the same line of work?!

Li Zha wasted no words and hurled the Fire-Tipped Spear straight at him.

"Shit, there's something seriously wrong with this kid!"

The burly Evil Soul Master hurriedly dropped the woman, turned, and ran.

The Fire-Tipped Spear skimmed past the woman's ear and plunged straight into the wall.

It left a burn on her ear.

Li Zha rushed forward and beckoned with his right hand. The Blazing Dragon Spirit immediately retrieved the spear for him, and he chased after the man with it in hand.

He never so much as glanced at the woman.

Na'er followed. Looking at the woman sitting on the floor, scared witless, she shook her head.

"We told you that man was an Evil Soul Master, but you just wouldn't believe us."

After that complaint, Na'er hurried after Li Zha.

The crowd left behind stared blankly at the two children's retreating backs.

"Th-that kid... is he any different from an Evil Soul Master?"

Leng Yaozhu drew a deep breath, a vague sense of foreboding rising within her.

Why did she feel

as though their Spirit Pagoda's reputation might not survive much longer?

In the carriage ahead,

"Heaven-and-Earth Silk!"

Li Zha thrust out his right hand. A red ribbon instantly flew out, caught up with the fleeing man, and wound around his legs.

With a thud!

the burly man hit the floor.

Li Zha caught up with a great leap and stomped hard on his back.

"Urgh!"

The Evil Soul Master spat out another mouthful of blood. That single stomp had broken several of his ribs.

"Let's see you run now!"

Li Zha thrust down one-handed, driving the Fire-Tipped Spear straight through the Evil Soul Master's left thigh.

"Aah!"

The Evil Soul Master screamed.

"Let's see you scream now!"

Li Zha pulled it out and plunged it into his right thigh.

"Aah!"

The Evil Soul Master's face flushed red with pain, his veins bulging.

Just then, the train police arrived.

Pinned to the floor, the Evil Soul Master hurriedly held out both hands.

"Quick! Arrest me! Lock me up! Please, I'm begging you, lock me up!"

The two Soul Master officers stared blankly.

"Lock you up? Then we'd have to waste food feeding you. Don't you know food is alive too?!"

Li Zha drove the spear through the Evil Soul Master's right hand.

"Aah! No, please, I'm begging you! I only have three rings! This is my first time attacking a train! I only just became an Evil Soul Master..."

"Once an Evil Soul Master, always an Evil Soul Master! All Evil Soul Masters deserve to die!"

Li Zha jumped off him, drove the spear into his back, then flipped it upward and hoisted his entire body into the air.

The Samadhi True Fire at the Fire-Tipped Spear's tip furiously scorched his organs and flesh, devouring his vitality.

"Aaaaaah!"

The Evil Soul Master nearly passed out from the pain. His trembling hand reached for the Soul Guidance Cluster Bomb at his waist.

He no longer cared whether it could kill Li Zha. All he wanted now was to die as quickly as possible.

With such grievous internal injuries, the Evil Soul Master knew he could not possibly survive.

"Want to die?"

"It won't be that easy!"

"God Devourer!"

A wisp of purple flame appeared in Li Zha's hand, then instantly darted out and burrowed into the Evil Soul Master's ear.

Then,

the Evil Soul Master's body convulsed wildly. His eyes bulged, his limbs flailed, and his mouth gaped wide, yet he could not make a single sound.

At that moment, the corners of Li Zha's mouth curled upward.

The purple flame was a new form of Samadhi True Fire he had comprehended. It could devour a target's spiritual body!

The purple flame entered his brain.

The Evil Soul Master's soul rapidly melted away like accumulated snow beneath the sun, the entire process accompanied by unbearable agony.

Soon,

the purple flame burned itself out.

The Evil Soul Master's body went completely still. His vitality remained, but his soul was gone, leaving him in a state akin to a vegetative one.

Li Zha opened the train window and flung his corpse outside with a backhand toss, giving the bomb at his waist a slap as he sent him off.

The corpse flew high into the air outside the train. With a deafening boom!, it burst into a sky full of blood and flesh.

A rain of blood immediately showered the earth.

Li Zha looked out the train window, the corners of his mouth lifting.

Watching this scene, the two Soul Master officers felt their sanity plummeting.

The people in the surrounding carriages hurried away as well.

Li Zha frightened them even more than the Evil Soul Master had.

"Senior Brother, you're badass!"

At that moment, only Na'er stepped forward, clenching her fist in approval.

"Na'er, will you always support your senior brother?"

Li Zha gazed at the sunset outside the window, speaking with his back to Na'er.

"Yes!"

"What if your senior brother has lots of enemies in the future?"

"Then I'll kill them all with you!"

"What if your senior brother's future enemies are gods?"

Na'er stepped forward, took Li Zha's hand, and raised it.

"Then we'll slaughter gods together! We'll kill until heaven and earth turn upside down!"

"Ahem."

At some point, Leng Yaozhu had appeared behind them. "Had enough fun?"

Li Zha and Na'er turned around awkwardly.

"You two are coming with me."

Leng Yaozhu's voice was icy. Grabbing them both, she flew straight out the train window.

After causing such a huge commotion,

there was no way they could keep riding this Soul Guidance Train.

Leng Yaozhu carried the two of them away at high speed.

The passengers and train police inside the carriage all breathed sighs of relief.

Half an hour later,

Leng Yaozhu piloted a Flying Soul Tool toward Eastsea City, carrying Li Zha and Na'er.

"You've really grown capable, haven't you, Zha'er? When you attacked without regard for the hostage just now, was that deliberate or an accident?"

Li Zha said, "It was a deliberate accident."

"Pfft!" Na'er covered her mouth, unable to hold back her laughter.

"Hmm?"

"Teacher, if I didn't attack, he'd have had me dancing in the palm of his hand. By taking the initiative, at least the hostage's safety was still in my hands."

Leng Yaozhu pressed a hand to her forehead. "Did you never consider what would happen if you slipped up and killed the hostage?"

Li Zha replied calmly, "Then she'd die."

Leng Yaozhu frowned.