FAMILY ABOVE ALL: BATTLING AGAINST GODS

AN: Expect a bonus chapter this week.

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Warriors.

Unlike mages who absorbed the atmospheric mana, warriors practiced the Ki cultivation system by using a special technique to dilute the overbearing Astral energy into a milder form; Ki, to temper the body.

A Ki practitioner who has tempered one part of the body is referred to as a One-Star Warrior. This meant that as there were only twelve stages in the Ki cultivation system, one would only be able to temper twelve body parts at most before one's physical body would be eligible to handle the tyrannical Astral energy.

*Haa!* *Haa!* *Haa!*

Arlo panted heavily as he lay with his back on the ground.

The pool of blood around him was already congealing, showing that he had been enduring this torturous process for a long time, two hours to be specific.

During this time, practically all his team members had already appeared on the floating mountain, something Seraphina had programmed under Arlo's request before they underwent the fusion. Except for Dean, Arianne, and Ella, the remaining three members of Arlo's group stood a short distance beside Rose as they watched the inexplicable situation. The group had never come across any warrior, so to them what was currently happening to Arlo was mind-boggling.

However, they soon had to divert their attention to something else.

"Master said you should take as many mana fruits as you want and cultivate quickly. After all, we still need to take revenge for what happened to us in the third zone."

Even though they were currently safe high in the sky, they were still being chased by the team of magical beasts, not to mention that the last zone was a place they weren't supposed to be in, considering their low strength. Even if they should have seniors there to depend on, they would just end up becoming a burden to them.

After a brief hesitation, Tina, Miller, and Kai took two fruits each before they consumed them. Feeling the pure mana coursing through their veins, the trio quickly sat down crossed legs, and focused on digesting the Ki to improve their cultivation. They expertly controlled the pure mana to expel the impurities from their mana core, slowly turning the dark core into a colorless one.

Rose refused to divert her attention from Arlo, as she continued to watch him intently, something Anita couldn't do anything about. Besides she didn't have the time and mind to be distracted, as she anxiously kept encouraging Arlo through their connection.

After two hours which felt like an eternity, Arlo successfully tempered four parts of his body. Even through his newly formed pale skin that was as soft as a newborn human baby, yet as durable as steel armor, the bones of his hands and feet shone with a multicolored luster.

A four-star warrior.

Arlo who had yet to truly embark on the warrior's path consecutively underwent four breakthroughs in a little more than two hours.

Yet, it seemed to be far from the end.

Even though, with the tempering of a bone, and the imprint of a star on it, Arlo's body underwent a complete tempering raising his bodily strength to a degree incomparable to the former self, the Aether essence still running wild within his body sent Arlo into unbearable pain. His internal organs were actively been destroyed by the multicolored essence only to be regenerated by his newly acquired dragon heart. The only silver lining was that the multicolored essence didn't affect his hand and feet regions, probably because they had already been tempered with them, instead, they flowed naturally through the bones, like electricity flowing through a conductor.

Old Bro could feel Arlo's weariness and was about to encourage him for the umpteenth time when an unfamiliar voice beat him to it.

"Master, be strong!" a gentle girl's voice drifted within Arlo's mind, and because Old Bro and Anita were connected to him, they could also hear it. Unlike Anita's cute yet playful voice, this voice sounded more tender and pleasing to the ear.

Just like he felt with Anita, Arlo could feel another connection established within his body. His dim eyes suddenly shone with a bright silver light, and a look of expectation appeared on his face.

Look at Anita beside him. Just how terrifying and heaven-defying were her powers?

The thought of having connected with a new powerful ally made a feeling of Joy well up within Arlo's body and further reminded him that he was getting closer to his goal.

To become the most powerful existence!

One, who will never be threatened by anyone or anything!

One who would be able to protect those he holds dear!

At the thought of his parents and their impending doom, Arlo's face turned pale. But soon after, he gritted his teeth and renewed his resolve.

Controlling the Aether energy rampaging within his body, Arlo tried to move them to his head region to temper his skull, but Old Bro quickly shot down this thought.

<< Are you crazy? >>

<< The skull is the most dangerous place to temper, not to mention that your laws are simply too destructive. A small mistake and your brain would be instantly pulverized. Would you like to find out if your new heart could regenerate your brain?>>

Arlo felt a chill down his spine. Taking a deep breath, he winced from the pain that had yet to diminish and questioned within his mind, 'So I can't temper my skull?'

As a practitioner of the Dirty martial arts, Arlo was able to fully utilize any part of his body like a deadly weapon. And the skull was one of the strongest weapons the body could offer.

After some thought, Old Bro replied, << Only attempt it after you have become an eleven-star warrior. By then, your body would have become so strong to the point that no metal could penetrate it, and you would even be able to regenerate instantly from fatal attacks without your new heart. >>

Nodding inwardly, Arlo controlled the multicolored essence to attack his right humerus.

"Ah!"

A heart-rending shriek escaped his trembling lips, as he felt his bone being pulverized and reformed back at a speed that couldn't be followed with the naked eye.

After becoming a four-star warrior, the speed at which the Aether essence destroyed his bones couldn't keep up with the normal restorative powers of his now strengthened body and his dragon heart. In conjunction with the Aether laws acting docile, even though it appeared to want to destroy his body, the process went smoothly.

An hour later, Arlo completely tempered his right humerus and the bones of his right lower arm; the ulna and radius.

Only then was the Aether essence within his body used up. Arlo's entire right arm shone like a multicolored jade. It looked beautiful and mesmerizing, but the domineering power lying within would send chills down the spine of anyone who dared to contend against it.

Immediately when Arlo felt the process finish, and the pain diminish, the Adrenaline coursing through his veins slowly wore off, and soon after he lost consciousness.

At the same time, another of the seal resting on Arlo's right upper arm became clearer. There were now three seals with a clear outline.

There was a slime seal!

A nine-tailed fox seal!

And the seal of a monkey wearing a hat similar to that of a magician!

.....

In the almost three hours under which Arlo underwent a drastic change, the situation within the fourth and treasure zone changed completely.

An hour after entering the fourth zone, Theodore and Eleanor were able to harvest a lot of divine plants and fruits. But soon after, more figures started appearing. At first, even though the situation appeared like it would escalate, things later calmed down as the new figures peacefully agreed to share four of the five remaining mana fruits.

However, everything changed when a new presence appeared.

The male Asura, who had left his companion, Zara, when he felt the earth shake and the fourth Zone open, finally appeared after passing through his mind trial.

As expected of a Ki cultivator. All his wounds had already healed up, and if it weren't for the weary look on his face, showing that his trial in the lake hadn't been easy to overcome, nobody would believe he was a person who had been at death's door a few hours ago.

Immediately when he appeared, the male Asura glared at Eleanor and Landon who had appeared before him and already teamed up with the Elven princess. But he still endured for the moment, as Eleanor's terrifying battle prowess was deeply imprinted in his mind.

But seeing the remaining fruit hanging down the grand and magnificent Tree of Infinite Resource was the final nail in the coffin.

With red eyes and an enraged face, the Male Asura punched the ground fiercely, causing a crater about three hundred meters in size to form, destroying the ground and several plants.

However, that wasn't the end.

The shockwave from his punch traveled out in all directions, knocking several figures and plants down, before destroying the last remaining blue fruit yet to be plucked from the TIR.

Before the others could erupt in anger, they were all teleported out against their will, and barely a second later, they all appeared at the third zone. Those still undergoing a trial within the lake were also pulled out, before they were sent back to the zone they came from.

And as fate would have it, all of them were teleported to the same area.

Zara, Steven, and Tron who had decided to follow Zara during the remaining duration she would be in the secret realm to repay her for not killing him; Eleanor and Landon who after not seeing the remaining members of their group realized that something must have gone wrong; Theodore and his team; the still enraged Rook and his members who looked around nervously in search of a group of little kids after appearing; many other figures numbering over a fifty in total, and finally the culprit of this situation, the Male Asura.

As if in sync, many heads glared in the male Asura's direction, and soon after the other figures oblivious to what happened mimicked their movements.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense, as the air felt stiffening.

.....

Arianne, Ella, and Dean had already been teleported to the floating mountain before the situation derailed completely in the fourth zone.

The appearance of the trio sent Rose and the others into a great state of shock.

Unlike before, Arianne was now standing at two meters in height, and her long hair cascading down her back like a waterfall was a beautiful mix of snow-white and blood-red color. Her ruby eyes shone with a more intense light, and her skin glistened with a pale yet rosy color. With her height, Arianne looked more like a girl in her late teens, and no one would believe she was barely eleven. Her protruding chest and very perky rear also helped to accentuate this conjecture.

While Ella's transformation wasn't as pronounced as Arianne's, the always droopy eyes of the young girl that shone with tiredness were now wide open, and hidden within it was a volcano of rage waiting to explode. Her purple hair crackled constantly in electricity, as the purplish arcs danced within them.

However, what truly made Rose, Miller, Kai, and Tina blank out wasn't Arianne and Ella's transformation nor their cultivation that had risen to the peak of the master realm even without absorbing any mana fruits.

Instead, it was Joe.

Even though Rose and the others were very familiar with the young magical beast, their little time together made them aware that the dark-haired boy with whitish eyes was a coward through and through.

When they were in danger against the red ants, Joe remained on Anita's back and merely threw poison bombs from safety.

What truly cemented this thought was that when they were in the third zone, Joe was the only one who had not made any effort and contributed to their escape. Instead, he was merely a burden, one that no one pointed out, as they could sense his close relationship with Arlo.

But what about now?

Now standing at approximately 1.4 meters, Joe's figure radiated confidence. While there were no great changes to his physical appearance, Joe's entire bearing was simply incomparable to before. Not to mention that the sound of the air around him vibrating made a look of confusion appear on the faces of the others, as they couldn't understand what was causing such a phenomenon.

"What happened to you?" A charming voice that would make the legs of any ordinary man turn to jelly escaped Arianne's red lips.

Joe smiled at their reaction but before he could answer, a painful grunt drifted into the group's ears.

The group simultaneously shifted their heads in Arlo's direction.

A look of pain flashed on Arlo's face at the same time that his eyelashes trembled slightly. A second later, his eyelids drew apart to reveal dim-sky-blue reptilian pupils resting within his silver eyes, and when he finally came to, the first thing Arlo saw was the blue slime resting on his chest.

'My partner...' Arlo smiled warmly as he whispered:

"Anita..."

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AN: Thanks to all those who are following the novel. I hope we can all keep it up, <3.

NEXT CHAPTER: REJECTED BY THE HEAVENS; DESCENT OF THE TRIBULATION LIGHTNING!