Just like Long Qianmei had thought, at the moment Tianlong looked at the huge eye in the sky, the silver bolt of lightning in his eye magnified countless times and released a sharp silver glow.
He was already in his demonic form before coming here. Now under the stimulation in his blood, his scales which had turned red due to Long Qianmei's blood light started to turn azure silver again.
As of now, he had already understood that the lightning from the heavenly tribulation was something that his Storm Dragon bloodline craved.
Demons were the spirit of heaven and earth.
They were multifarious in nature and acted on their instincts.
So even though he always did logical analysis before doing something, when it was something related to his bloodline instinct, he would consider doing the action even if his logical reasoning told him not to.
And now his instincts told him to roar at the sky, charge into the sea of lightning and tear apart the clouds!
However, his logic told him that if he did that, he would die without an incomplete corpse!
"No!" Biting his lips, he drew a bit of blood and suppressed his desire. "Greed can become the motivation for a person to work, but if unrestrained, it can cause their downfall. My fleshly body might strengthen hundreds of times under the baptism of this lightning, but that is only if I manage to remain alive."
There were many times when one needed to believe their instinct over their logic, but this time, it clearly was not the case.
No matter how strong he was, for a Qi Condensation cultivator to undergo the tribulation of a Nascent Soul realm was nothing but suicide!
So even though he knew that he would undergo a qualitative change upon bathing in that lightning, he didn't act on his desire but instead retracted his aura.
Long Qianmei was sealed inside the coffin but she could clearly see the outside world with her spiritual sense.
"Rely on your instincts but don't let them control you!" Seeing her son having greed in his eyes but still having retracting his aura, a gentle smile appeared on her lips.
"Don't worry, since you want something, how can I as a mother not give to you?"
As a brilliant light shone in her eyes, the statue of the palace dressed woman finally stood up from her seat. The presence of Heaven's will had weakened the restrictions around the illusory throne and allowed her to move.
Raising her hand, she grabbed towards all the weapons that were piercing the sand coffin.
At that moment, all Ju Clan members suddenly spat a mouthful of blood as they felt their connection with their life source magic weapons being forcefully severed.
Just as they were about to raise their heads to check what happened, the heavenly tribulation finally struck the coffin.
Crackle!
As the crackling sound echoed out, none of them dared to breathe.
The first strike of the heavenly tribulation was usually the weakest, but when they observed the might of the bolt, all Jade Core cultivators broke out in cold sweat.
Just the first bolt had the power to instantly destroy a late Jade Core expert!
It was countless times powerful than the tribulation any of the Nascent Soul cultivators had gone through!
This caused all of them to secretly rejoice in their hearts. The more powerful the tribulation, the more her chances of dying!
Unlike their lot, Tianlong was feeling worried. The desire in his heart had subsided a lot and was replaced by worry instead.
"It would be so much safer if dad was here…"
When the first bolt of lightning hit, his left eye closed due to the blinding flash. But his left eye could still pass the light and observe the changes in the coffin. The outer layering of it had exploded due to the strike but the formation that sealed it remained unaffected.
However, he didn't know how many strikes it could endure before breaking apart.
Just three breaths after the first strike, the clouds in the sky rumbled even more. An even greater pressure assaulted them as three bolts of lightning descended together and struck the coffin.
One bolt was sufficient to instantly kill a late Jade Core cultivator, three were enough to instantly destroy a peak Jade Core expert!
As they struck the coffin, an even greater rumbling echoed out. This time a quarter of the coffin was directly blasted away. Although silver electric sparks from the strikes danced on the surface, the restriction seal still remained there unharmed.
Seeing this, a strange expression appeared on his face.
Not only him, but the Ju Clan members also witnessed the scene with a bewildered expression.
"Lea… Leader, that coffin is shielding her from the lightning!"
"Quick… Quickly call back the Iron Sand!" Many of them hurriedly urged Ju Xun, their leader.
If she successfully passed through the tribulation with the help of their Iron sand, even in death, they would become the biggest joke.
"I can't do that or we'll all be targeted by the tribulation too…" The Ju Xun's face was extremely pale as he thought about the possibility.
While they were considering all kinds of possibilities, a cold snort came from the coffin. "Damn rats of Ju Clan, why is your Iron Sand so weak?!"
Upon hearing the roar, the Ju Clan members were so angry that they wanted to strangle her to death.
If things went this way, before the coffin was destroyed, she would already have reached the Nascent Soul realm!
While various thoughts were playing through Ju Xun's head, the third strike arrived.
The first strike had a single bolt that could kill a late Core formation expert!
The second strike had three bolts that could kill a peak Core formation expert!
The third strike had nine bolts that could kill an early Nascent Soul expert!
But this wasn't all!
Under the effects of heaven's will, the blood hawk fighting against the sea of fire had dissolved. After all, it was just a divine ability. Using this chance, the sea of fire took the form of a gigantic fire dragon and devoured it.
As if fearing the lightning strikes wouldn't be able to destroy the coffin, it roared and struck the coffin along with the nine bolts of lightning.
The resulting explosion was so destructive that it immediately killed most of the kneeling Ju Clansmen. Their limbs flew everywhere under the effect of the resulting explosion.
Half the mountain was pulverised under the might of the detonation. As the tribulation of lightning and dragon fire raged in the place, the spiritual energy of the place was thrown into disarray.
From this moment onwards, the place had become uninhabitable for at least a thousand years.
Tianlong himself was hurled back thousands of metres backwards. If not for the blood coloured shield in front of him, he would've died due to the aftershock.
"Finally!" As the debris flew all over the place, the hoarse voice of a woman echoed out. With a wave of her hand, the area around her was incinerated.
When Tianlong looked at her, he felt excited all over.
Her body was charred, skin split open at multiple places which made the bones underneath visible, but even so, her body was releasing an aura of life.
As the silver sparks moved through her being, the black vines underneath her skin squirmed like crazy.
"Heavenly Tribulation lightning carries a sliver of Extreme Yang energy. No wonder it'll suppress them!" His eyes shone with understanding.
While cultivating inside the Candle Dragon's statue, his body mirrored the cultivation method of the Candle Dragon's race. Cultivating only the Yang Meridians during the day and only the Yin Meridians during the night.
However, as someone who had inherited an Extreme Yang Physique, his original Yang Meridians had become much stronger than his Yin Meridians.
During that time, he freely made use of the Undying Tree inside his body and used its vines to create an additional Yin Meridian network that can balance his Extreme Yang Meridians.
It's something that he had done on the spur of the moment with his extensive knowledge about cultivators' physiology and energy pathways.
It was also during that time that an extremely bold research idea popped up in his mind…
However, he knew that for him to carry on his research, he would need sources of Extreme Yang. It was a resource that even Yun Dingxing couldn't help him with.
For a moment, he thought of the various possibilities while looking at the lightning tribulations.
While he was thinking about his research prospects, Long Qianmei had already reformed the sea of fire. Countless Magical treasures formed by the divine ability of the Ju Clan were burning in that sea.
However, her gaze was focused on the sand coffin which had endured thirteen bolts of lightning and her dragon fire.
Upon destruction, only a small amount of black sand remained behind.
"Iron Sand with sealing energy that has been refined by Tribulation lightning…" Eyes flickering with excitement, she collected all the sand.
After carefully storing it, her eyes shifted to Tianlong as she softly spoke, "Tian Er, before coming here, I asked your view on cultivation. You answered that it's a continuous process of enriching one's state of mind. Do you want to know my view?"
Tianlong snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his mother. "Please tell."
With the destruction caused by tribulation lightning and dragon fire, half of the mountain was flattened and its spirituality destroyed.
Only a handful of their people were and the rest were all dead. Now that Long Qianmei was also freed from the coffin, they had no hope of fighting against her. The only thing they could do was run away while she was undergoing the tribulation.
But just like Ju Xun had initially said, trying to escape from her was nigh impossible.
She extended her hands and made the fire dragon turn into a sea of flames again. It became a huge net that caught all the incoming bolts of lightning.
With the sea of fire protecting them for the time being, she decided to have a talk with her son. "When you plant a tree in a rainforest, it'll have to compete with other trees for space, minerals from soil and sunlight. If it has the potential, it would grow above all others and spread its branches over the canopy. But what if it doesn't have the potential?"
After a moment of silence, she continued, "You chop down all the other trees in its vicinity. With their absence, the tree will have more access to sunlight and space. Moreover, the dead trees would decompose and become nutrients for your tree to grow."
"Which expert didn't dye their hands in the blood of others? Cultivation is nothing but an act of killing and seizing.
"If you can kill, you'll have fewer competitors. If you can seize, you'll have more resources than others and grow stronger than others."
Her fingers pointed towards one of the escaping Ju Clan members. Immediately a mark of sword flashed through her eyes and the man fell from the sky.
He lay motionless with blood gushing from his head. In the next moment, a soft tearing sound came from his body and his blood-soaked Core flew out of his dantian.
However, she didn't stop after with just one of them. Wherever she would point her fingers, people would die and their Core would be harvested.
However, she felt that her speed was just too slow.
Closing her eyes, she called upon the statue in the sea of fire. "Imperial Shadow!"
An illusory shadow of the palace dressed woman appeared behind her. It was a faceless apparition created by only sword sense.
There was a regal presence coming from her that gave her a feeling of crowned royalty.
As soon she turned towards the Ju Clansmen, her body disintegrated into countless black swords and started to turn them into mincemeat.
"Evil creature, don't go too far!"
"I have already calculated where your family lives. Kill me and this information will spread to all of your enemies!" One of them roared with rage and fear in his eyes.
However, the very next instant blood poured out of the seven orifices of his head and he dropped dead listless.
Tianlong raised his eyebrows at the phenomenon. In the previous attack, he didn't sense any Sword Intent coming from her, but rather a special type of Spirit Sense.
"Just as I suspected, she also has a special type of sea of consciousness!" Possessing a Lightning Consciousness, he was very sensitive to the spiritual sense of others.
If he wasn't wrong, her Sea of Consciousness had been forged into Sword Sea which gave changed her Spirit Sense to Sword Sense!
Amidst their mournful cries, she coldly spoke, "Don't be fooled by their cries. All of their hands are dyed in the blood of many others. How else do you think they rose to power?"
"If I was any weaker when they attacked me, the one to die would be me. And since they were after my dragon fire, the one to get massacred would be the Long Clan…"
"If the cloud sea's Yun Clan didn't have the strength to protect themselves, they would've been hunted down long ago. Who doesn't crave the speed of a roc? Their mastery over wind is also a subject of envy for many."
"Dragons are walking treasure troves. Their scales can be used to create dragon armours, their souls can become weapon spirits, their marrow can be used to refine bloodline medicine, their flesh can be eaten to strengthen the physique, their tendons and bones can be refined into treasures. But who would dare to hunt them? You must have the strength to protect what is yours."
"The weak have their schemes and the powerful have their strength. Devour others to stay on top or be devoured to let others stay on top. This is the essence of cultivation. Of course, you also have another option of being ambitionless and not cultivating at all."