Chapter 6: Let Me Handle It!

"Rooaar!" A chill ran through Derek Zimmerman and the other three. They whipped around, and terror flooded their faces. "A-a Purple Crystal Beast!" The Purple Crystal Beast loomed there in a fury, and the four of them started shaking so hard their knees nearly buckled. Despair crept into their eyes. They had actually forgotten the simplest rule. Wherever there was a Purple Flame Flower, there was always a Purple Crystal Beast guarding it. They were finished. A Purple Crystal Beast was stronger than most in the Life Palace Realm! "W-we didn't steal your Purple Flame Flower!" "Yeah! Murray Scurr stole it! Go after him!" They were on the verge of tears. If there was a debt, there was a debtor. Why was it staring at them? They had not gained a single benefit. They had become scapegoats instead. The Purple Crystal Beast, however, did not care about their excuses. "D-Derek… y-you already broke through to the Life Palace Realm, didn't you?" the woman stammered, voice trembling. "Kill it!" Out of the four, only Derek was in the Life Palace Realm. The other three were merely late-stage Spirit Movement Realm. Only he could even attempt a fight. Derek shot her a look and cursed her silently. He had just broken through. His cultivation was not even stable yet. Asking him to fight a Purple Crystal Beast that could rival the Second-stage Life Palace Realm was asking him to die. "Run!" He turned and bolted. The other three froze, dumbfounded. Then they jolted and sprinted after him like their lives depended on it. "Rooaar!" The Purple Crystal Beast roared in rage. The damned humans had stolen the Purple Flame Flower it had guarded for years! Boom, boom… It charged after them in a frenzy, smashing through the forest. Trees snapped. Boulders shattered. Everything in its path was crushed to splinters. "It's too fast! We can't outrun it!" Derek and the others glanced back at the beast closing in, and hopelessness swallowed them whole. At this rate, they would be wiped out sooner or later. "Murray Scurr, you bastard!" Derek bellowed, his face twisted. It was all that animal's fault. If Murray had not run so fast, the Purple Crystal Beast would never have locked onto them! Making them take the blame. Poisonous to the bone. He deserved to die. "Chase Murray!" Derek snarled. "Even if I die, I'm dragging him down with me!" The other three nodded through gritted teeth. It was all Murray's doing! "You're still chasing me?" Murray Scurr glanced back mid-sprint and frowned as he saw Derek barreling after him. At a time like this, they should have split up. Were their brains waterlogged? Trying to drag him down? They were not qualified. Murray looked at the Purple Flame Flower in his hand, then swallowed it in one gulp and began refining it as he ran. With the Sword Meridian supporting him, Derek and the others could not catch up. "Animal! Freak!" Derek screamed as Murray vanished into the distance, cursing until his throat went raw. "Ahhh!" A sudden scream jolted him. He spun around and saw the Purple Crystal Beast already upon them, slamming one man to the ground and tearing him apart. "Ahhh!" Another scream followed. Another person died. Before a Purple Crystal Beast, a Spirit Movement Realm cultivator was no different from a grasshopper. "Rooaar!" The beast lunged for Derek. Derek's expression changed. He had no choice. He drew his sword and met it head-on. Clang, clang, clang… Bang! But he had only just entered the Life Palace Realm. He was no match at all. After barely a few exchanges, he was sent flying. As the Purple Crystal Beast blotted out the sky and came crashing down to finish him, only despair remained in Derek's eyes. "Murray Scurr! Even as a ghost, I won't let you go!" Shk! Just as Derek thought he was dead, blood suddenly rained from above. Warm droplets slapped his face, snapping him awake. He stared. The vicious Purple Crystal Beast lay collapsed on the ground. Several figures stood before him. "P-people from the Scurr family!" Derek shuddered. Despair returned, heavier than before. The ones who saved him were the Scurr family's men, and they were all stewards. Out of the wolf's den, into the tiger's mouth. "What did you just say?" Steward Ketill of the Scurr Family looked down at Derek, voice cold. They had only been passing by. If Derek had not shouted just then, they would not have lifted a finger. Derek blinked. They were not here to kill him? "Speak." Steward Ketill's eyes flashed with icy light. "Did you see Murray Scurr?" Derek jerked like he had been struck and nodded frantically. "So he really is here." A sharp glint crossed Steward Ketill's gaze. The Family Head had been right. "Where is he?" "H-he… he ran that way." Derek pointed toward the direction Murray had fled, still utterly confused about what was happening. "Chase!" Steward Ketill grabbed Derek and hauled him along as he pursued. Another steward seized the woman as well. If they dared lie, they would die. … "This should be safe." Inside a hollow in a tree, Murray hid his breath. He could no longer hear the Purple Crystal Beast. It should have been safe. "Fourth drop of Origin Liquid!" With inner vision focused on his Sword Meridian, Murray's eyes lit up with joy. Just swallowing it had condensed another drop. The Purple Flame Flower really lived up to its name. "If I completely refine the Purple Flame Flower, I should be able to condense a seventh drop of Origin Liquid. But to break into the Life Palace Realm, I need ten drops." "But even without reaching the Life Palace Realm, I can still match it. Even if a Purple Crystal Beast shows up, I'm confident I can cut it down." Not yet in the Life Palace Realm, yet stronger than the Life Palace Realm. That was the might of the Sword Meridian. "Hngh!" He began refining in earnest. In an instant, the Purple Flame Flower intensified its scorching through his meridians. The pain surged several levels higher, savage and relentless. But compared to a sea of blood and deep hatred, what was this? "Seven and a half…!" At midnight, Murray endured the agony and opened his eyes, delighted. He had underestimated the Purple Flame Flower. He was already close to condensing an eighth drop of Origin Liquid. He was only two and a half drops away from the Life Palace Realm! Bang! Not long after, the tree hollow suddenly trembled, as if something heavy had slammed into it. "That bastard couldn't have gotten far! If the Purple Flame Flower isn't refined within an hour, it'll be ruined. He's definitely nearby, refining it!" "Don't miss any cave or tree hollow!" Bang! A furious shout rang out outside. The hollow shook again, then cracked apart. Murray's face tightened. As the upper half of the hollow collapsed, Derek appeared right in front of him. Derek froze for a beat, then ecstasy surged across his face. "My lord, he's here!" He threw his head back and laughed. "Ha! Murray Scurr! I finally found you!" Swish, swish, swish! The Scurr family stewards rushed in at once, surrounding Murray in a tight ring. Murray's gaze darkened as he recognized those familiar faces. He rose slowly and drew his sharp sword. "Murray Scurr." Steward Ketill stepped forward with a sneer, a blade appearing in his hand as killing intent spilled out. "We finally caught you. You're tougher than I expected. Still breathing after all this." Murray curled his lip. These stewards were Marcus Scurr's lapdogs. Since they had found him, there was nothing left to discuss. "My lord, my lord, wait!" Just as they moved to strike, Derek raised a hand to stop them. Steward Ketill and the others turned cold instantly. "My lord, give me a chance," Derek said quickly. "Let me kill him!" Steward Ketill frowned, then nodded. Fine. Let a Zimmerman do it. If this ever came to light, they could push the blame onto the Zimmerman family. Derek's face lit up. He turned to Murray with a vicious grin. "Murray Scurr, you didn't expect me to survive, did you? You nearly got me killed by the Purple Crystal Beast, and you got two of my clan brothers killed. Today I'm killing you to avenge them!" "You brought death on yourselves. Who else is there to blame?" Murray sneered. "You tried to steal my things and kill me, and you still think you're the victim?" He lifted his sword slightly, eyes steady. "But kill me? With you? You're not qualified." "I'm not qualified?" Derek's face contorted with rage. He had only brute strength and he dared look down on him? He was courting death! "Die!" Derek thrust his sword straight at Murray, confident. Killing someone who only had brute force should have been effortless. Clang! In the darkness, a flash of sword-light cut through the night. Derek's blade snapped cleanly in two. Derek's body locked up. He stared at the broken sword in his hand as every hair on his body stood on end. The stewards' eyes narrowed as well, shock written across their faces. One strike. A broken blade. "Wasn't his Elixir Field dug out? How did his cultivation recover in such a short time?" "How is that possible? Just from a Purple Flame Flower?"