Once they had activated the formation, countless sand-like particles rushed out from all over the place and stuck to her robes.
But due to her being covered in blood, it wasn't that evident. But before long, her actions started to slow down and even her sword intent started to lose its sharpness.
The sand was coming from all parts of the earth. It was something that had been magically enchanted with metal and earth Qi for a long period.
As soon as the sound rang out, the barren earth below suddenly crumbled. With a whooshing sound, all the dust and sand rushed towards her under their will.
A giant which seemed to have gained intelligence right before her death, jumped towards Long Qianmei to prevent her movements.
As the sand and dust stuck to her body, her figure came to a halt. With her hands raised above in an overhead strike, she turned into a statue. Very soon she was covered in the sand until she resembled an oval cocoon.
This spell was something that they had prepared a long time ago to slowly make her tired. But when they saw her injury, they no longer hesitated and completely released it.
Nevertheless, the leader knew that this was only a temporary measure and couldn't hold her for long. So, he used the clan's sealing formation to further restrict her.
"Seal!"
As he shouted, the formation diagram on the mountain shrunk and jumped on the earthen cocoon. With the help formation diagram sealing it further, it became a coffin.
"Burning Heaven Sword Saintess, it seems as if with the passing of years, not only have you lost your appearance and strength but also your intelligence!" Although the man was laughing in a hoarse voice, he still didn't let down his guard.
The horn on his head glowed with a red-demonic light and separated from his head to become a long spear. With a sign of hands, the long spear rushed forward and pierced the sand coffin.
"Today's the day you'll die old hag!"
Upon witnessing the scene, many of the Ju clansmen felt joy deep in their hearts. All of them imitated their leader's action and turned their red horns into different weapons and hurled them towards the coffin.
In just a few breaths, the entire coffin was stabbed and pierced with countless magical weapons that they had conjured with their horns. It was an inborn divine ability of their clan that ran through their bloodline.
"Dead… she's finally dead!
"Hehehe… my son, are you seeing this? Mother has taken revenge for you!"
Finally, when they saw that there was no more movement from the seal and they couldn't even detect any breath of life from it, many of them were finally relieved.
However, those with discerning eyes could tell that something was terribly wrong.
Because the dome of fire in the sky was still there!
In fact, it had become even stronger than before!
The blood hawk which had been created by the sacrifice of tens of clansmen had now shrunk to a very small size. It was struggling!
"You are just a Jade Core cultivator and we have four Nascent Soul cultivators with us. I don't believe we can't kill you!" The man was filled with fear.
The sea of fire was a part of Long Qianmei's domain. Its strengthening could only mean two things – Either she was burning her soul to increase her domain's might or… she wasn't affected by all of their attacks at all!
Neither of these bodes well for them.
As if trying to confirm his suspicion, a hoarse voice resounded from the coffin, "Is that all?"
Even with the restrictions of the formation and the magical sand, the voice couldn't be buried.
While the voice seemed was like a nightmare to everyone else, it was a sweet melody for Tianlong who was watching things from the sidelines with a frown.
His mind was completely absorbed in studying the swordplay and sword intent of her. No matter how much she got injured, he kept observing with a steady heart. Even if he felt pained, what could he do? He was too weak to interfere in this battle.
But after seeing her getting suppressed by the magical sand and being sealed by the formation, he was naturally worried.
The illusion of lightning and fire was glowing intensely when he saw them launch their weapons towards her while cursing.
Towards these strange people, he held no compassion.
Since his mother wanted to kill them, they would die. It was their fate.
But the hoarse voice stopped him in his tracks just as he was about to take action. He was relieved.
He silently berated himself for not believing his mother's strength. If she was not sure about eliminating them, why would she bring him along with her?
"She's… she's still alive!"
"Damnit!"
"Leader, I think…I think we should evacuate!"
Her hoarse sound was like a nightmare for them. Many of them had the thoughts of running away.
Just now they were celebrating after seeing her life force vanishing. But in the next instant, her aura had increased even more and caused them to sink into despair.
Compared with their trauma from before, this was a heavy blow for them.
"Run? Hehe, where can you run? You have clearly seen her killing intent, do you think she'll let you leave?!" Before the leader could respond, another man snarled.
"Enough! This woman is known for holding grudges. No matter where we escape to, she won't rest until our entire clan is annihilated. It's either we kill her, or she wipes us out!" His loud voice immediately silenced all of them.
The place immediately descended into a grim silence.
All of them looked at the coffin with dread. It was like a ticking time bomb.
Even though they couldn't sense her life aura, the fiery domain was growing stronger by the second.
At this time of crisis, their eyes couldn't help but look at the other person standing in the sky. His entire being was supported by a blood cloud as he watched the entire battle with incomparable interest.
Despite the weak cultivation base, they could sense in him, they couldn't see a bit of fear in his eyes. It was as if he was watching some kind of show.
This kind of calmness filled them with uncertainty about his real strength.
Crack!
However, none could ponder over this matter for too long as the sand cocoon started to show signs of cracking. A monstrous sword aura came out of it and caused all of them to spit blood.
"My clansmen, we can't delay any more. Lend me all your strength. It's either she lives or us!" The leader's panicked voice rang out. Seeing the dire situation, all of them punched their chests and coughed out their blood essence.
Immediately their bodies became pale white like the albino giants.
Once the blood essence went inside the leader, his cultivation base which was at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, went directly to the late-Nascent Soul stage!
Moreover, he now held a crimson long sword in his hand that emitted the same aura as him.
"Die!" With the blood sword in his hands, he teleported towards the sand coffin. He was sure that no matter how strong she was, she couldn't compete against the power of the late-Nascent Soul realm with her meagre Peak Jade Core cultivation base.
This blade had drawn out the vitality and lifeblood of all his remaining family members. But as long as he could kill her, it was worth it!
Sadly, just as he was about to slash apart the coffin, an incomparably dense pressure assaulted him cancelled his teleportation mid-way.
His figure fell from the skies while coughing out large mouthfuls of blood. His grip on the blood sword lessened and it slipped out of his hands.
In his confusion, he searched for the source of the sudden pressure. But when the realisation struck him, his eyes widened like saucers. In fact, it was not only her but every other person in the vicinity.
"You… You… You madwoman!"
If one looked past the curtain of fire, one would see that the originally clear skies were suddenly covered with black clouds. Lightning flashed through them accompanied by rumbling thunder.
"What's that?" Tianlong's eyes squinted at the sudden phenomenon. A sensation of deadly crisis suddenly hit him when he looked at the clouds.
With his intuition, he could feel that this wasn't something started by his mother.
"That year you couldn't do anything to me, why do you think that you can do anything now?" While the others were filled with panic, towards the black clouds which looked like a huge whirlpool, Long Qianmei only had derision.
The clouds seemed to be enraged by her mocking. A massive bolt of thunder flashed through and the rolling clouds became even thicker.
"Heavenly Tribulation! She… she's trying to breakthrough to Nascent Soul realm here!"
Just when Tianlong was confused, the sounds of discussion and enraged howls cleared his doubts.
He had heard about Heavenly Tribulation before. But upon seeing it himself, he could claim that the real thing was far more powerful than what he had imagined.
Even if the tribulation wasn't directed at him, under its pressure, he felt all of his spiritual energy going out of control.
"From the Nascent Soul realm onwards, all cultivators need to face the tribulations of heaven should they want to progress. However, in rare cases where the foundation of cultivators is almost perfect, they would invoke heavenly tribulations even while trying to reach the Jade Core or Yin Yang Cleansing stage!" The words weren't spoken out loud but transmitted through spirit sense directly in his mind.
Tianlong felt shaken. For a moment he didn't know what to say.
Perfect foundation? As a person who practised dual refining while having an Extreme Yang physique, Lightning Consciousness and the core of a greater demon resting in his dantian, he doubted that there was anyone with a more perfect foundation than him.
Even when he was refining the sword energy from the blade, he was able to absorb a fair amount of it without any repercussions.
A Qi Condensation realm cultivator absorbing Nascent Soul sword energy with sword intent… this kind of thing was only possible due to his unshakeable foundation!
This tribulation of his mother wasn't for a way to breakthrough, but also a warning to him!
But strangely, the more he looked towards the clouds, the more his fear lessened. It was instead replaced by a sense of closeness and desire…
The clouds had completely shrouded the night sky by now. There seemed to be no end to them. In the place where Long Qianmei was sealed, there was a huge vortex with thick bolts of lightning flashed in its centre. It was as if an eye was staring at them emotionlessly from above.
The people felt their knees weaken under the huge pressure. Heaven's might was such that no one would dare resist it!
Dropping their treasures, all the Ju Clansmen fell on their knees and prostrated themselves.
All of their thoughts of revenge were now cast away and replaced with fear and respect towards the heavenly dao.
Since the heavens were sending tribulations for Long Qianmei, they couldn't interfere. Otherwise, they too would be targeted and be infected by karma.
If she successfully went through this calamity, her strength would soar and she would achieve a breakthrough.
Naturally, none of the Ju Clansmen wanted to see that happening.
The best outcome was if she perished under the tribulation of lightning.
So hearing her mocking voice, all of them started to loudly curse her.
"Evil creature, how dare you disrespect the heavens?"
"Burning Heaven Sword Saintess, your name is a clear disrespect to the heavenly dao!"
"Wretch you are too evil! Even the heavens cannot tolerate you!"
"Heavens aren't blind! They clearly want to deliver justice to our brethren!"
One after another voice rang out from below which detailed her evil nature and requested the fair heavens to deliver justice to them.
Towards their words, Long Qianmei only had mocking!
So, what if they cursed her?
The heavenly dao was emotionless.
It wouldn't respond to the cries of some pitiful cultivators!
The only concern she had was towards her son. After all, her son possessed the sacred bloodline lineage of the Immemorial Storm Dragons. Heavenly tribulations were an incomparably serious matter for them!