Select vertices with vertex paint

So i want to select a bunch of vertices on a high poly mesh to delete them. I would usually press C and select what i want, but the amount of faces makes it difficult to do on edit mode.
Ive found that its easier to “select them” on vertex paint mode. Is it posible to paint vertices on vertex paint and have them selected on edit mode? or should i just use C?

I’m on 2.79 by the way