*Thump.*
"Urgh…" he groaned.
'That fucking…didn't hurt?' he thought with surprise as he looked up.
"THAT'S MY GIFT!" Xue'er yelled down to him as if she read his mind.
Tang Lin was about to complain that it didn't make up for pushing him off, but she had already disappeared.
As he looked back at the stage, something he had never noticed when he climbed the staircase was there on the other side of the stage.
'A door?' he observed.
'Does that really have to be my destination?' Tang Lin thought as he saw the cluster of disasters and chaos obstructing his path.
Instead of steps made of condensed qi, the stage itself had become split into sections as the new steps.
In the distance, the door was atop a mountain, where clouds loomed.
The first calamity he had to overcome was the Earth.
The ground started to quake and separate as trees and rocks started to cave in with the land.
"SHIT!" he cursed as he realised the ground was separating him and the door further apart.
*Crack!*
A tree next to Tang Lin started to fall as he was thinking.
A giant shadow suddenly overshadowed Tang Lin's figure.
"Hm?" he thought as he turned around; only to meet a giant tree branch about to topple him.
"Argh!" he shouted as he barely managed to dodge to the side.
'That was a bit too close', Tang Lin said as he got up and wiped the dust that had settled on his face.
Just as he got up, the ground trembled violently, causing him to lose his balance and fall forward flat on his face.
'...' he thought with frustration.
As Tang Lin was getting annoyed, the ground continued to separate further away from each other.
'Fuck! I'm not going to make it at this rate', he realised.
Getting into a crouching position, Tang LIn stood on one knee, while bending his toes and lightly touching the ground with his fingertips.
*Inhale.*
Tang Lin tensed the muscles within his calves and feet as he circulated his qi to empower his physical capabilities.
*Exhale.*
Propelling himself with both of his hands and legs, Tang Lin shot out in a sprint as he tried to pick up his momentum.
Blood pumped vigorously throughout his body as Tang Lin listened to the sound of his own heartbeat.
With a leap, Tang Lin jumped over the widening abyss in front of him.
"SAFE!" he announced to himself with relief.
Continuing to run, Tang Lin dodged the collapsing trees and large rocks.
Soon, he arrived at a large expanse of land that was occupied by a frenzied mob of monsters oozing out murderous intent.
Suddenly, with all their bright, red eyes, they looked at Tang Lin.
'Oh shit…' Tang Lin thought with a bad feeling.
*Growl.*
"Have I already entered the second half of the first calamity?" he muttered to himself.
"You're half-right. The calamity hasn't managed to evolve its major form yet. So, although you're technically on the second half of the step, you're not actually on it yet", Xue'er's voice echoed cryptically in his mind.
"What? How are you speaking to me? Where are you?" Tang Lin questioned.
"That's not important right now. Watch out!" she quickly warned.
An armoured rhino full of sharp thorns was charging straight towards his direction.
*Tremble.*
The ground kept vibrating under the rhino's tremendous weight as indentations were formed in the ground wherever it went.
'Fuck! Now what? Behind me is an abyss. Ahead is death and my left and right are full of other blood-thirsty beasts fighting each other. Daybed I can meet the rhino head-on?' he thought as he assessed the rhino in front of him.
'Wait, that rhino is not just any rhino. Isn't that an albino titan rhino?!? Nope, nope, nope. Fuck that shit, I'm out', Tang Lin realised as he decided to enter the crowd of beasts on his left.
Just as Tang Lin entered the crowd of beasts, he came to a stop again.
In front of him was a terra winged-roc and a heaven-swallowing python fighting each other fiercely.
However, the terra winged-roc had noticed him as it raised its beak to strike at him.
'SHIT! Fuck it!' he cursed at his predicament.
Tang Lin started sprinting towards the terra winged-roc as it struck down in an attempt to eat him.
Just as its mouth was about to rip off his head, Tang Lin slid under it as he pointed his middle finger at the terra winged-roc.
"Get fucked!" Tang Lin shouted as the sound he had been waiting for appeared.
*Tremble.*
The ground started to tremble violently once again as the albino titan rhino caught up to Tang Lin.
Seeing Tang Lin under the terra winged-roc, the rhino disregarded its surroundings as it started to charge at him again.
*ROAR!*
Surprised from the appearance of the albino titan rhino, the terra winged-roc looked up only to see it charge head-on into it.
*Boom!*
The terra winged-rock shrieked in agony as its body was left in tatters.
It was completely enraged as it flapped its wings, which created giant gales of wind that were slowly slicing through the albino titan rhino's thick armour.
The heaven-swallowing python that the terra-winged roc was probably fighting, however, struck at this opportunity as it coiled up around both of the rhino and the winged roc.
The albino titan rhino with its larger size was the first to feel the threat of the python constriction.
However, none of this mattered, because by then, Tang Lin had already managed to escape from there.