The world twisted.
Shen Yuan felt like his soul was being funneled through a slightly aggressive noodle strainer. Lights flashed, his ears rang, and the only thing louder than the system's ringing alert was the mental image of Ping Mei yelling "I told you not to touch that scroll!"
When he finally landed face first, as usual, it was on a patch of soft moss in a realm unlike anything he'd seen.
The sky above was a muted violet. Giant stone pillars floated lazily in midair, some cracked, some glowing faintly. Strange clouds drifted upside-down, and the laws of gravity appeared to be a polite suggestion rather than a rule.
Shen Yuan groaned and sat up, brushing dirt off his robe.
"System, status check. Please tell me I didn't just warp into someone's personal nightmare dimension."
[Welcome to the Laughing Heavens Legacy Trial, Part II: The Fool's Arena.]
[Difficulty: Unknown.]
[Objective: Survive.]
[Sub-objective: Entertain.]
"…Entertain who exactly?"
As if in answer, ethereal laughter echoed faintly through the realm, high-pitched, amused, and disturbingly untraceable.
"That's not ominous at all," he muttered, tightening his sash. Zap-Chan fluttered down from the sky a few seconds later, slightly singed but very much alive. It peeped in outrage, then pecked him on the shoulder.
"Yeah, I know. Next time I fall into a portal, I'll leave a note."
---
Ahead, a floating staircase of stone steps formed midair, leading to an archway wreathed in blue flames. Above it, glowing characters floated:
"Only Those Who Can Make the Dead Laugh Shall Pass."
Shen Yuan frowned. "The dead laugh? That's the standard now?"
[System Tip: This trial adapts to Host's personality. Success depends on emotional manipulation, wit, and creative problem-solving.]
"In other words: wing it."
[As usual.]
He stepped through the archway.
Immediately, the scene changed.
The sky blinked to grey. The air turned heavy.
He now stood in a massive open hall where rows upon rows of translucent figures, spirits sat on floating platforms like an ethereal audience. Some wore old robes from dynasties long vanished. Others bore spiritual injuries, missing limbs, cracked souls, shattered eyes.
At the center of the room stood a single podium, under a spotlight of spiritual energy.
On it: a jade bell, and a timer glowing 30:00 in bright green script.
Then a voice boomed through the space:
"BEGIN."
[Legacy Trial Activated: Make the Spirit Judges Laugh.]
[You have 30 minutes. Fail, and be sealed forever.]
Shen Yuan took a shaky breath and stepped up to the podium.
Thirty minutes to make ancient cultivators laugh.
No pressure.
---
He cleared his throat.
"So… you know how everyone talks about achieving immortality?"
The ghosts stared silently.
"Well, I've died three times. Not bragging, just… I've seen the ending, and let me tell you, it's mostly paperwork."
A few spirits blinked.
"Seriously, the Celestial Reincarnation Office has a waiting list longer than the Jade Tower Library's book returns. I waited two months just to be told my karma score was a decimal too high for reincarnating as a turtle."
One ghost coughed.
Progress.
"Anyway," Shen Yuan continued, "I ended up here. Cultivation realm. No cheats. No cheat bloodline. I don't even have a proper sword. What do I have? A system that gives me rubber chickens and a lightning bird that bites me every hour."
Zap-Chan shrieked from the side and promptly shocked his foot. Shen Yuan yelped and jumped.
That got a chuckle. A tiny one. From a spirit with half a beard.
[Audience Reaction: 2% Amusement]
[Timer: 24:12]
---
He went on, switching tactics.
He mimicked his elders. He recited "The Top Ten Dumbest Ways Cultivators Have Died." He even did a dramatic reenactment of his first Qi-Gathering session, complete with squirrel attack, rock slide, and involuntary swamp bath.
When he slipped on his own sandal and crashed into the podium, the room rippled with the faintest sound: restrained, ghostly snorts.
[Audience Reaction: 9% Amusement]
[Timer: 18:43]
---
Then, as he dusted himself off, Shen Yuan dropped the act.
He took a breath and said, voice quieter now, "You know what the hardest thing is about being in this world?"
The ghosts leaned forward slightly.
"It's the silence."
He looked up at the spirits, thousands of them, forgotten warriors, old masters, dead dreamers.
"I grew up in a small village. No sect. No legacy. And when I first tried to cultivate, I nearly gave up. Not because it was hard but because no one believed in joy anymore. Everyone's so serious. So angry. And it's all about power, power, power."
He smiled, a little wistful now.
"But laughter… is still power. Just a different kind."
Silence.
Then the sound began, soft at first. A snicker. A giggle. A full-throated laugh that echoed through the chamber like bells on the wind.
One by one, the spirits began to laugh.
Not forced. Not cruel.
Real.
Warm.
Alive.
[Audience Reaction: 100% Amusement]
[Trial Complete.]
[Reward: Laughing Heavens Core Art (Volume 2) – Emotional Qi Amplification Technique]
[Bonus Trait: Presence of Lightness – Reduces hostility from spirit-based entities.]
[New Title Unlocked: Speaker of Smiles]
Shen Yuan stood in stunned silence as the room shimmered. The spirits gave a final bow, some with tears in their faded eyes, before vanishing into golden motes.
The timer vanished. The bell on the podium rang once.
Then the scroll reappeared in the air, opened itself with a swirl of laughter, and drew him in once again.
---
Back in the Mistcloud Sect's great hall, silence reigned.
It had been less than a minute since Shen Yuan had vanished. The scroll still hovered where he left it, rotating slowly above the central platform.
Then, without warning, it cracked like a whip of golden lightning.
A burst of light erupted from the scroll, and Shen Yuan was thrown back into the world.
He tumbled across the floor, rolled once, and slammed into a pillar.
"Ow," he muttered.
Everyone stared.
Then gasped.
The golden rune on his hand was now complete, no longer fragmentary. The scroll hovered behind him like a guardian spirit, and his entire spiritual aura had changed.
Not stronger, not deeper but brighter.
More alive.
Master Zhen stood slowly. "What… did you awaken?"
Shen Yuan blinked.
Then the system chimed.
[System Notice: You have now been recognized as the Heir of the Laughing Heavens Path.]
[Next Trial Unlocked: Legacy Temple Activation.]
[Location: Unknown.]
[New Threat Detected: External force approaching…]
Shen Yuan froze.
"Wait. What force?"
Before the system could answer, a thunderous boom shook the entire mountain.
A deep voice echoed through the sky above the sect:
"Return the scroll, Mistcloud Sect… or be buried with it."
The elders looked toward the clouds in horror.
A shadow loomed over the horizon.
Something ancient. Something strong.
And it had come for him.