Sounds of footsteps could be heard as a figure appeared through a portal.
'So, this is where the second trial is being held', Tang Lin thought as he observed his surroundings.
He had arrived at an empty, white space. There were no objects or creatures. Just… emptiness. All that stood tall was a staircase in front of him that seemed to infinitely penetrate into the heavens.
Unlike the first trial, the guardian spirit didn't come out to explain anything. Despite that, Tang Lin could tell that he was meant to climb up the stairs.
"What on earth could they be testing in a place like this?" he muttered.
As if someone had heard his question, a wooden sign grew from the ground next to the staircase. Words slowly formed as he read it.
[Hundred Steps of Transcendence - Climb it. Points will be distributed according to performance.]
'...' Tang Lin thought.
"NO SHIT SHERLOCK!" he yelled in frustration
'Sigh, why am I arguing with a wooden sign?' thought Tang Lin, deciding to just climb the staircase.
Unlike normal stairs, the stairs seemed to be made of condensed qi that looked like planks.
Stepping onto the first step, Tang Lin felt a slight change in his body, but it was negligible. Continuing to move up the steps at a leisurely pace, he could finally feel a big change at the tenth step.
'Why does my body suddenly feel worn out already?' he thought before noticing something.
The previous empty expanse of space suddenly had roots growing and small puddles of water forming.
"The stage is changing? No… it's evolving?" muttered Tang Lin.
Focusing on his breathing, Tang Lin continued to walk up the staircase.
'The 20th step', he thought as he watched his surroundings carefully.
The pressure being exerted onto Tang Lin's body had increased, but he had managed to further consolidate his suspicion.
'The stage is indeed evolving. What does this mean? Am I missing something or am I unable to comprehend it yet?' he contemplated.
He believed that it wasn't a coincidence or just for show that the stage was evolving. This was because everything here was a part of the second trial.
Everything must serve some kind of purpose. The real difficulty is identifying and understanding the mysteries behind them.
This time the roots had grown into small patches of grass and sprouts. The small puddles of water had also changed into a small stream; all connecting to each other.
'I can't understand anything right now. It'll probably be better to continue walking up and observing it', he thought from a logical viewpoint.
By the time Tang Lin reached the 30th step, he could no longer ignore the burden on his body.
'It seems that this trial does not only affect the physical state of our body, but also our mind and spirit', he realised tiringly.
Droplets of sweat started to form on his body as Tang Lin continued his observation of the miniature world being created below him.
Now, he could start to see lifeforms appearing as they scurried around in search for food or prey from the growing plants and fruit trees. The small streams had also accumulated to form ponds.
Watching this, Tang Lin felt like he had comprehended some insight behind the stage, but it wasn't enough. He needed to see more to gain a better understanding.
"I need to reach even greater heights", said Tang Lin as he looked back at the staircase.
Step by step, Tang Lin reached the 39th step.
'Just one more. I just need to go up one more step!' he thought with conviction.
However, his body unfortunately couldn't cope with the pressure and started to weaken.
"Ugh, is this the limit of my physical body? I was hoping to not use qi until the 50th step", Tang Lin groaned in dismay as he started to circulate his qi; enforcing his body.
The burden on his body started to subside after circulating his qi as he stepped onto the 40th step.
The stage had developed even more as a lush forest filled with lakes and trees had formed, while animals and wildlife had started to roam around. The ecosystem was in full action as Tang Lin saw life and death among the creatures below.
"Seeing life from an omniscient view like this is truly weird, yet inspiring", Tang Lin muttered.
However, there were still no signs of that spark of insight that Tang Lin had originally felt before.
Walking to the 50th step, the pressure increased again as Tang Lin revolved his qi to the maximum.
'I didn't obtain the ninth compression principle qi for nothing', he thought.
In order to sustain his rapid consumption of qi, his body greedily absorbed the surrounding heaven and earth qi.
Surprisingly, when Tang Lin looked back down at the miniature world, the landscapes had changed. Biomes and oceans were created, which created continents.
At his current position, he was right next to the cliffside of a mountain, which had materialised next to him.
The earlier barren land of the second trial had drastically changed. Now, the place looked like a wonderland with beautiful trees and flowers. He could even see a waterfall in the distance below him. Animals were prancing around, while fish swam freely.
Something in Tang Lin's head just switched on after witnessing the stage's first five evolutions.
'Is this the Law of Life? It's faint, but the vibrant life force and energy here seems to be enough for even a fragment of the universe's main daos to condense', he thought as he tried to comprehend the small law fragments present in the area.
Knowing that this wouldn't be a quick and easy task, Tang Lin decided to sit down and meditate,
As he closed his eyes, his vision darkened before small, white lights started to appear one by one around him. This was the heaven and earth qi that was everywhere in the universe.