I only wanted to kill a chicken, not split the heaven

The sky cracked open like an egg.

Golden light spilled out, feathers drifted down, and a triumphant crow shook the dream realm to its core.

> "COCK-A-DOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

Li Ming's eyelid twitched.

"…No. Absolutely not. I watched you explode."

From the clouds descended a colossal rooster wreathed in divine flames — haloed, majestic, unbearably smug.

The Golden Rooster Saint, undying symbol of dawn, nemesis of sanity, and professional alarm clock of the heavens.

Bai Guo choked on laughter. "You really can't escape poultry-based karma, descendant."

The rooster landed atop the dream meadow, wings spreading wide as the ground rippled under its weight. Its voice thundered:

> "I HAVE TRANSCENDED DEATH!

EVEN TIME ITSELF SHALL HEAR MY MORNING SONG!"

Li Ming groaned. "Who keeps promoting you?!"

---

The air shimmered, and several versions of Li Ming began flickering into view — echoes from across the temporal loop.

One was from his first year as a cultivator, nervously clutching a manual.

Another wore the robes of the Dream Patriarch.

A third looked older, calm, eyes filled with strange knowledge.

They all turned to face the sky… and froze when they saw the rooster.

"Is that—"

"Yes."

"Oh no."

"Again?"

The future Li Ming sighed. "So it begins anew."

---

Reality trembled as the Loop stabilized, weaving together the dreams, memories, and timelines.

Every Li Ming in existence was being pulled into one place — one collapsing, half-real world.

Bai Guo gawked. "This is temporal suicide! Do you realize what happens if all versions of you meet?"

Li Ming stared grimly upward. "I get blamed for things I haven't done yet."

---

The Golden Rooster Saint lifted its head proudly.

> "FOOLISH HUMAN! I HAVE SEEN YOUR FUTURE! I HAVE PECKED AT YOUR DESTINY!

YOU ARE FOREVER THE ONE WHO—"

"Talks to birds?" Li Ming interrupted.

The rooster sputtered. "—WHO DEFIES HEAVEN!"

"Ah yes," Li Ming said drily, "with naps and sarcasm. Terrifying, I know."

---

The air rippled.

The older Li Ming — the one from the dream battle — stepped forward, gaze heavy. "Enough. This is the heart of the loop. If the rooster escapes here, everything collapses."

The younger Li Ming pointed at him. "Wait. You knew about this?"

The older smiled faintly. "Of course. I left the loop for you to find."

"WHY?!"

"So I could rest."

The rooster crowed triumphantly. "AND YET HERE YOU ARE, RESTLESS!"

Li Ming covered his face. "I hate my own sense of irony."

---

Then, the ground split.

Dream-light surged upward, forming a colossal clock of stars — each tick echoing like thunder.

Every second that passed erased parts of the dream realm, turning meadows into dust, skies into void.

Bai Guo screamed, "The loop's collapsing! Time's running backward!"

"Backward?" Li Ming echoed.

The older version nodded. "Yes. Everything will reset — unless we end the loop from within."

Li Ming stared at him. "How?"

The older self raised a hand, and a mirror of light appeared.

Inside it — the moment Li Ming first broke the talisman that sent him 1000 years back.

> "We must rewrite that moment," the older said. "Break the cycle."

Bai Guo flapped furiously. "Or, hear me out — maybe don't mess with space-time again?!"

The rooster flared its wings, laughing maniacally.

> "YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME, DREAMER!

EVEN IF TIME RESETS, I SHALL RETURN WITH EVERY DAWN!"

Li Ming drew his sword. "Then I'll just have to make sure dawn never comes."

Bai Guo froze. "…That sounded way cooler than it should've."

---

The older Li Ming smiled slightly. "You've learned well."

For a brief moment, both versions of him — past and future — stood side by side as the sky unraveled, their robes fluttering in opposite winds.

> Two timelines. One rooster. Infinite stupidity.

Li Ming whispered, "Let's end this."

And together, they leapt toward the collapsing mirror — one blade, one purpose, one very confused bird screaming in the background.

> "WAIT—WHAT ABOUT MY GLORIOUS—"

CRASH.

---

Everything went white.

The dream realm folded inward — stars, sky, memories, all dissolving into a quiet ripple of laughter and echoing feathers.

And when silence finally returned…

Li Ming opened his eyes.

He was back beneath the Great Tree. Alone.

The rooster's crow echoed faintly in the distance — quieter, weaker… fading.

Bai Guo perched beside him, eyes wide. "Descendant… did we win?"

Li Ming exhaled slowly. "If the rooster stays quiet for one sunrise, I'll consider it victory."

Then, faintly — from somewhere impossibly far away — came one last echo:

> "COCK-A—"

Li Ming glared at the horizon. "Don't."

> "—DOOOOM!"

Li Ming's eye twitched. "It never ends."

----

When Li Ming opened his eyes again, the world was… still.

Too still.

The valley looked exactly as it did before the dream battle — the sect buildings half-standing, disciples snoring in piles, Bai Guo face-down in a teapot.

For a brief, glorious moment, Li Ming dared to hope.

"Maybe… maybe it all reset properly."

Then the nearest mountain crowed.

Li Ming froze.

"…Please tell me that was just the wind."

The mountain crowed again — majestic, echoing, undeniably poultry.

Bai Guo stirred, blinking. "Morning already?"

Li Ming's voice was hollow. "We're doomed."

---

He spent the next hour investigating the aftermath.

Half the disciples remembered nothing.

The other half remembered… other lives.

One disciple bowed deeply. "Master, thank you for teaching me the Great Pillow Sutra of Enlightenment!"

Li Ming blinked. "I taught you what?"

Another disciple rushed forward, starry-eyed. "Grand Patriarch! You once tamed the Celestial Chicken of Dawn, didn't you?"

Bai Guo snorted tea out his beak.

Li Ming stared at the kid, soul evaporating. "…Did I?"

The disciple nodded eagerly. "Legend says you fed it divine corn until it sang the Hymn of Breakfast!"

Li Ming's eye twitched. "I'm going to bury myself alive."

---

As the day went on, things only got worse.

The sect had apparently declared a new holiday — "Feathered Enlightenment Day." Someone was selling chicken-shaped talismans. And the rooster?

It was gone.

Not dead. Not ascended. Just… gone.

Bai Guo fluttered to his shoulder. "So, descendant. Any idea what in the nine heavens just happened?"

Li Ming sighed. "Yes."

"…And?"

"No one will ever believe me."

---

That evening, Li Wen visited him, beaming.

"Master! Great news! The Dream Sages of the north have acknowledged your title!"

Li Ming rubbed his temples. "Which one?"

"The Infinite Nap Emperor!"

Bai Guo collapsed laughing again.

Li Ming stared into the sunset, dead-eyed. "Every word you speak subtracts five years from my lifespan."

---

Later that night, when the sect was asleep, Li Ming climbed up the tallest peak and sat beneath the stars.

The world was quiet again. Too quiet.

He raised his hand, conjuring a faint shimmer of Qi — the last trace of that dream realm still clinging to him.

Inside the shimmer, he could almost hear his older self's voice.

> "Find the Dream that Never Ends."

Li Ming frowned. "Yeah, thanks for the poetic nonsense, future me. Maybe next time leave a map."

A faint rustle made him turn.

Something small and golden poked its head out of the bushes.

It was a baby chick.

It looked up at him… and then sneezed out a spark of lightning.

Li Ming's entire soul deflated.

"No. Not again."

The chick tilted its head. "Peep."

Bai Guo (now wide awake) whispered, "Descendant… that's—"

Li Ming interrupted flatly, "Don't say it."

"—the reincarnation of the Golden Rooster Saint!"

Li Ming picked up the chick, holding it at arm's length.

"Listen, tiny divine omelet. You are not starting another religion in my backyard."

The chick sneezed again. A halo appeared over its head.

"…I hate causality."

---

By morning, the sect had somehow already found out.

Disciples gathered around his courtyard, whispering excitedly.

"The Patriarch's found the Divine Hatchling!"

"It's destiny!"

"It's adorable!"

Li Ming stood on the balcony, holding the chirping chick in one hand, glaring down at the crowd like a man on the verge of spiritual collapse.

"Everyone. Listen carefully. This is not a divine being. It's a bird. It poops."

The chick peeped.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Li Ming froze. "…Please tell me that was a coincidence."

The chick blinked innocently and sneezed again, this time producing a tiny thundercloud that zapped Bai Guo.

Bai Guo screamed, "IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!"

The disciples fell to their knees in worship.

Li Ming closed his eyes. "I'm officially done explaining anything ever again."

---

That night, as he finally slumped into bed, the chick curled up beside his pillow — glowing faintly, its tiny beak twitching in sleep.

Li Ming stared at it for a long time, muttering,

"…If I find out you're the key to the next time loop, I'm frying you."

Then, just as his eyes drifted shut—

a faint, echoing voice whispered through his dreams.

> "You're close, Li Ming… but the loop isn't over yet."

He sat up instantly.

The chick opened one eye and peeped.

Li Ming whispered, "...Oh no. Not again."

The horizon shimmered—

and faint outlines of ancient runes began glowing across the sky, the same ones from his time accident.

Bai Guo groaned from the next room. "Descendant… why does the air smell like paradox again?"

Li Ming stared up, realizing with a mix of dread and weary amusement—

The next loop had already begun.

To be continued...