FAMILY ABOVE ALL: BATTLING AGAINST GODS

Two shadows streaked across the Jungle.

One figure had a deep red aura around him. His auburn hair flew wildly in the air, as the sound of cutting wind drifted into his ears.

Suddenly, his expression changed before he gathered all his strength and slashed the sword in his right hand backward with all his might.

His sword collided with the small fist of the female Asura, Zara.

*Bam!*

There was a brief pause before they both separated. Steven stumbled back three steps while Zara stumbled back five steps.

The eyes of the girl widened in surprise. The Asuras were best known for their monstrous physical strength, yet the boy in front of her was able to best her in that exchange. Of course, she didn't use her entire strength in the previous collision, but that didn't diminish the great feat the boy just achieved.

In a mere second, a few thoughts passed through her mind, causing her to guess the boy's identity but still she couldn't confirm it. Rather than she couldn't confirm it, she refused to believe it.

As she was about to voice her suspicions, her expression greatly changed.

The deep red aura around him suddenly lost a bit of its color as Steven concentrated his killing intent on the girl in front of him.

Zara quickly tried to bite her tongue but before she could complete her action, Steven's attack hit her.

Her mind blanked out as her eyes lost their light.

Instead of making use of this opportunity to attack, Steven made haste and ran in the opposite direction. He quickly opened the distance between them.

About ten breaths later, veins bulged on Zara's neck and forehead as her bloodline was forcefully invoked.

Her hair flew into the air and her eyes shone with a bright red light, allowing her to finish her action of biting into her tongue.

Blood erupted from her mouth, but not even a second later, her tongue completely healed. Zara glared in the direction Steven left before she bent her knee and gathered her strength.

An invisible pressure spread out, as countless particles of sand rose into the air around her. The ground shook slightly as a stifling air spread out. Zara's scanty dress flapped in the crushing air, exposing her enticing belly button and enchanting thighs.

Zara's body vanished from the spot and it was only when she left that a resounding bloom echoed out.

A thirty-meter crater had formed at her initial position as all the trees and vegetation were destroyed by the crushing force.

In merely three breaths, she overtook Steven who had widened the distance between them by at least a kilometer.

Steven came to a stop, as his expressions hardened. His grip around his sword tightened.

The aura spreading out around Zara slowly disappeared and she slowly let out a sigh.

"You are related to the 'one man Army' and 'conditional strongest', right?"

Steven's expression visibly changed, and that was all the affirmation Zara needed.

When she saw Steven about to refute her claims, she quickly interjected:

"There is no need to deny it. I have identified that aura around you as killing intent. And only one person can wield that resource in such a manner."

Steven's expression slowly went back to normal.

"What do you want?"

Zara's face mirrored her inner bewilderment.

"I can't believe that legendary person's son is before me."

Steven merely glanced at her.

After a short moment, Zara collected herself.

"So?" Steven hurried her. His grip around his sword didn't loosen in the slightest.

"I want to propose a partnership."

Now it was Steven's turn to become stunned. He couldn't believe his ears.

Zara understood Steven's reactions, so she couldn't help but release a sigh.

"I have no reason to be here." she started before continuing, "The TIR lacks value to any Ki cultivators talk less of we Asuras. Of course, there are many treasures in the fourth zone, some of which are beneficial to Ki cultivators. However, such treasures could be obtained on the outside, and compared to the allure of the tree of infinite resource, they are lackluster."

"Then why are you here?" Steven asked in curiosity.

The wind blew the grasses and leaves around them lightly, and the clothes covering Zara swayed slightly to reveal her soft and tender red skin.

"I was told to enter the secret realm. To be more specific, I was advised to enter this dimension. And before you ask me who, just know that I can't reveal the person's identity as she is one of the cornerstones of the Asura race."

Steven had a thoughtful look on his face. For a person to be described as a cornerstone of the major powerhouse of countless worlds, he knew the person's identity would be very special and he didn't want to touch upon such a sensitive topic.

"Why me?" Steven questioned after a moment of silence.

"You know about Mama, don't you?" Zara responded with her own question.

"Who doesn't know about her?" The corner of Steven's lips twitched. Mama was what people called the Ancestor of the Asura race. Despite being several thousand years old, her cultivation at the very peak of Ki cultivators allowed her to appear as a lady in her early thirties. It was well known that she hated being reminded of her actual age, and she was also infamous for a huge harem comprising mainly of young boys.

Steven couldn't help but tremble when his thought arrived at this point, but fortunately for him, his focus was soon shifted elsewhere as Zara continued her speech.

"Mama doesn't involve herself in the race's affairs. And as in many families, there is a clash of power among the royalties of our race."

"Wait..." Steven's eyes widened abruptly, "Are you telling me you are of royalty?"

"Yes..." Zara confirmed causing Steven to gasp in surprise. It was very to meet a Ki cultivator and it was even rarer to meet someone from the Asura's race. Yet, an Asura of royal blood was standing in his presence, so it was understandable why Steven was shocked senseless.

Seeing Steven's intense reaction to her identity, Zara couldn't help but smile wryly:

"But my family is declining!"

Steven narrowed his eyes at her as he processed her words.

After several thousand years, it was normal that the royal family would have expanded to an inestimable size, especially considering the Asura's long life span and their insatiable lust for sexual interactions.

In that respect, they were no different from beasts from the serpent lineage.

"I was suddenly summoned in secret by this special figure I told you about. It took me by surprise, as only a few had met her in person among our entire race. She was the one who informed me that the person who would help me restore my family's standing would be in the secret realm."

Steven's expression suddenly turned weird, "And you think that person is me?"

Zara chuckled slightly, "Even if it isn't you, I don't believe that you are any ordinary either. It is not every day you meet someone related to the strongest being in the universe."

If it was before, the ancestor of the Asura race would be the undisputed strongest among the myriad races. However, in recent years, many geniuses have popped up, among which one of them shone even brighter than the others. He was called by several names; The void emperor, The chaotic Annihilating dragon, The Sun god, and The peerless paragon among many others. However, some still believed that the Ancestor of the Asura race was the strongest even to date. And that was after seeing the Void emperor's unparalleled talent and immense power. After all, Mama had lived for several thousand years old, while the void emperor using the current standards was still counted as young. No matter his level of power, he could never overcome Asura's Ancestor experience.

All in all, both figures were considered legendary figures.

And among the few that were closely associated with the void emperor was the Conditional Strongest, Bald Martin.

Zara looked at Steven's curly Auburn hair and her expression couldn't help but change. She had heard of the adverse effect of using Killing Intent like Martin did.

Oblivious to her thoughts, Steven questioned:

"And why should I partner with you?"

Without even taking a moment to ponder, Zara responded, "Because I can help you seize the majority if not all the treasures in the fourth zone. And I am willing to hand them all to you as a show of favor."

Steven's brows slowly creased into a frown, "What makes you think I need your help? You should already have an inkling of what I can do by now."

Zara was about to respond when a series of explosions drew their attention from the distance.

Not before long, the sudden appearance of five storms made from different elements entered their visions.

Soon after, the five storms merged to create a more terrifying storm than ever.

Steven gulped silently as he watched the multicolored storm connecting the colorful sky to the earth. Even from a far distance, he could feel a terrifying pull tugging at him and trying to draw him toward the eye of the storm.

Without any hesitation, he turned toward Zara, "I accept your offer."

Zara ignored him and instead gazed intently at the highly spinning storm.

'That is where that idiot is.' Even though she didn't put the male Asura in her eyes, she couldn't deny the fact that he was from her race and she couldn't allow anything to tarnish their image. She could already tell that the person he was currently confronting was far above his league.

'There was no such presence before I left, which means the person just appeared. And from the energy I feel and the ability to control several elements at the same time, it must be an elf...and it isn't an ordinary elf at that.' When her thoughts reached this point, she had already kicked off from the ground.

"Let's go." only her sweet voice was left behind.

Steven hesitated for a moment before he followed suit. He was really intrigued to see who could wield such great power comparable to a red-core mage when the secret realm didn't allow such presence.

Their two bodies turned into a blur as the sound of slicking air resounded due to their great speed.

They had barely started running for ten breaths when a great change occurred in the distance.

*Booooom!* a terrifying explosion erupted from inside the storm, dispersing it into the surroundings. However, Steven ignored the destroyed attack comparable to one from a red-core mage and instead gazed dumbly at the massive figure that had appeared on the battlefield in the distance.

Zara who had been withholding her speed, so that Steven could keep up with her couldn't do so any longer.

Her body vanished from Steven's vision and only a cloud of dust was left at her previous location.

"ZARA!" the anxious cry of the male Asura drifted into the ears of Zara who was moving at sonic speed. Her eyes caught the terrifying arrow made from ice and covered in striking red lightning. She was just about to act when her expression greatly changed like never before.

"TWOOOOOOOOM!"

A huge axe cut through the sky before splitting the world annihilating-looking arrow into two.

*****

A massive axe fell from the sky before slicing the approaching arrow into two. The male Asura's ears exploded as the split arrow passed beside him before flying into the distance.

A brief moment later:

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

Blinding light exploded in the distance as red lightning raged into the sky. The entire third zone shook from the explosion and several bird-like beasts flew into the sky in horror.

The male Asura who had a happy expression on his face from escaping death door suddenly paled when he found out that the person who rescued him wasn't his partner. In fact, his savior wasn't even human at all.

*Bam!* "Bam!* *Bam!*

The sound of footsteps that shook the ground for several meters resounded in the now quiet area.

The male Asura, Eleanor, and Landon shifted their eyes to the new arrival.

"My name is Tron!" A deep voice overflowing with power and authority drifted into their ears.

"I hear you humans like to share names before killing. Magnanimously, I will permit you to do so."

A few moments of silence passed without any response.

Tron was perplexed about why Eleanor, Landon, and the male Asura were looking at him with stunned looks when he finally understood, "Haa! I see. It's not every day you see a talking beast."

After saying that he stretched his right hand to the center of the crater that had further deepened by at least three times from the terrifying force exploding outwards from the previous clashes. There, embedded deep within was his axe that had split Eleanor's previous attack into two. The axe shook greatly before flying out towards Tron's outstretched hand.

"We seem to have new guests."

Eleanor, Landon, and the male Asura shifted their head in the direction Tron was looking in, in time to see the arrival of Zara and Steven.

"The more the merrier!" Tron flashed a wide grin as he raised his palm to the sky and unleashed his awakened bloodline ability, "Now...peacefully die!"

A huge shadow covered the ground.

Zara, Steven, Eleanor, Landon, and the male Asura raised their heads to the sky and without any exception, all their eyes widened into saucers.

At the same time, Tron's voice entered their ears:

"Meteor fall!"