NOVEL NEXT Chapter 129: Li Ming Accidentally Becomes a Historical Prophet
The sect grounds looked like they'd survived both an earthquake and a nap gone wrong.
Smoke drifted from shattered towers. Half the disciples were still snoring. The other half were pretending they weren't.
Li Ming stood in the middle of the wreckage, robe torn, hair a mess, holding what used to be a tea cup.
He sighed. "Alright… hands up if reality feels slightly less real than usual."
No one moved.
Bai Guo, sitting on a toppled pillar, said, "Congratulations, descendant. You just invented religion, psychology, and interdimensional insomnia."
Li Ming glanced at him. "And you just invented silence. Try it."
---
Li Wen stumbled over, clutching a scroll. "Master! Reports are spreading across the provinces! Everyone's saying you tore open the sky and spoke with the Eternal Ancestor!"
Li Ming blinked. "I was the Eternal Ancestor."
"Exactly!" Li Wen said brightly. "They're already building temples in your honor!"
Li Ming stared at him. "…How fast?"
"Three hours."
Bai Guo cackled. "Efficiency! Humanity's greatest sin!"
---
A crowd of disciples approached, reverent and terrified.
One of them bowed deeply. "Patriarch, we have deciphered the divine message you left us!"
Li Ming's expression darkened. "What message?"
The disciple unfurled a glowing scroll. "It says—"
He read aloud:
'Step one: take a nap. Step two: profit.'
Li Ming froze.
Bai Guo immediately fell off his perch laughing. "Oh no. You left yourself those notes again!"
Li Ming grabbed the scroll. "I did not write this—!"
Except… the handwriting was definitely his.
He buried his face in his hands. "Future me is an idiot."
---
By noon, the valley had transformed into a pilgrimage site.
Vendors were selling "Blessed Blankets of Enlightenment."
Children wore wooden masks shaped like his face.
A group of scholars debated whether napping under moonlight doubled cultivation speed.
Li Ming passed them all in numb disbelief.
"This is how history dies," he muttered.
Bai Guo fluttered above. "Correction: this is how history laughs at you."
---
At the far end of the valley stood the new "Shrine of Endless Dream."
It was massive.
It also had a giant wooden statue of Li Ming reclining on a pillow — holding a cup of tea like a divine artifact.
He stopped walking.
Bai Guo landed on his shoulder, whispering, "They even carved the dark circles under your eyes. Incredible craftsmanship."
Li Ming said flatly, "I'm going to burn this place down."
"Too late," Bai Guo replied. "They've declared the smoke holy."
---
A sudden commotion rippled through the crowd.
Li Wen ran up again, panicked. "Master! The Time Pavilion's relics — they're reacting! The 'Dream that Never Ends' symbol appeared on all of them!"
Li Ming's head snapped up. "Where?"
Li Wen pointed at the horizon.
A pulse of golden light shimmered over the mountains, spreading like a heartbeat.
Li Ming's expression shifted — irritation fading into wary focus.
"So it's real…"
Bai Guo tilted his head. "Descendant, tell me we're not doing this again."
Li Ming exhaled slowly. "Oh, we're doing this again."
---
He turned, calling out to the still-dazed disciples.
"Everyone! Pack up your pillows. We're going on a field trip."
Bai Guo blinked. "Where?"
"To find the Dream that Never Ends."
The disciples gasped in awe.
Bai Guo groaned. "Great. Another adventure named after a nap."
Li Ming smirked faintly, lightning flickering across his palm.
"This time, if I meet myself again— I'm punching first."
---
The journey began with confusion, continued with regret, and promised catastrophe by lunch.
The so-called "Path to the Dream that Never Ends" turned out to be a glowing trail of floating lotus lights… which led directly into a swamp.
Li Ming stood ankle-deep in mud, holding a cracked compass that spun in circles. "This feels symbolic."
Bai Guo perched on his head, preening. "Perhaps enlightenment just means accepting bad travel conditions."
Li Ming gave him a look. "You're saying enlightenment is… wet boots?"
"Exactly. A moist revelation."
"...I hate that sentence."
---
Behind them, the disciples followed in single file, each carrying a pillow like a sacred relic.
They hummed softly, apparently believing it helped maintain "dream harmony."
Li Ming pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did I accidentally start a marching lullaby?"
Bai Guo nodded solemnly. "You're a visionary, descendant. A disaster visionary."
---
Hours later, they reached a stone gate buried in vines. Strange symbols pulsed faintly across its surface — one looked suspiciously like a sleeping person.
Li Ming examined the carvings. "Ancient inscriptions… maybe a barrier seal."
Bai Guo squinted. "Or a warning."
Li Ming traced one rune, and the gate rumbled open.
Beyond it lay… a vast meadow of floating dream bubbles, each reflecting a different scene — some serene, others chaotic.
Inside one, a younger Li Ming was sleeping peacefully under a tree.
Inside another, he was arguing with Bai Guo about proper tea temperature.
The disciples gasped in awe. "It's the Eternal Patriarch's past lives!"
Li Ming's eyebrow twitched. "No, that's just Tuesday."
---
They wandered through the meadow, each bubble humming softly when passed.
But the further they went, the more the illusions shifted — dreams blending with memory.
Li Ming suddenly stopped. There, inside one of the larger bubbles, was the same older version of himself from the dream battle — meditating beneath that ancient tree.
Bai Guo whispered, "There he is again… the future you."
Li Ming took a step closer, pressing a hand to the surface. The bubble rippled like water, and his reflection distorted — his face flickered between young and old.
Then, faintly, the older version's lips moved.
Li Ming couldn't hear the words, but the meaning brushed against his mind like an echo.
> "The dream always loops back."
The bubble shattered silently.
---
Suddenly, the entire meadow began to pulse with golden light.
The air thickened, dream-energy surging like a rising tide.
The disciples panicked.
"Master! What's happening!?"
Li Ming steadied his stance, eyes glowing faintly. "It's not a path… it's a memory circuit. My future left this here— maybe to show me something."
Bai Guo squawked nervously. "Or to trap you in a cosmic nap!"
"Either way," Li Ming muttered, "I'll find out."
He drew his sword and slashed through the light.
The moment the blade connected, the world inverted — sky became ground, sound became silence, and time folded inward like paper.
---
He fell through a tunnel of shifting memories — moments flashing past in reverse: the rooster, the beast cub, the lightning duel, the medicine hall, the sect gates.
Then everything stopped.
He stood once again under the same great tree from before — but this time, there was no future self.
Only the faint sound of wind, and a small inscription carved into the bark:
> "Don't wake up until you're ready."
Li Ming exhaled, gaze unreadable. "So this is where it started…"
Bai Guo hovered beside him, voice quiet for once. "Descendant, what do you think it means?"
Li Ming looked at the sky, where the stars shimmered like eyes watching from beyond time.
"It means the dream isn't done looping yet."
---
The wind shifted — carrying a familiar sound, faint but real: the crow of a rooster, echoing from somewhere far beyond the horizon.
Bai Guo blinked. "Wait… that's not—"
Li Ming's expression froze. "It can't be."
The sound grew louder, closer — triumphant, divine, ridiculous.
Somewhere, impossibly, the Golden Rooster Saint had found the loop too.
Li Ming whispered, "Oh no. It's back."
The dream realm trembled. The sky began to crack open again.
And Li Ming realized the loop wasn't closing.
It was merging.
To be continued...