sy who transmigrates as a mundane animal and cultivates until he can live on cqms and then chooses to follow around the love interest of your choice
i am VERY tempted to say he transmigrates as a hen because of all the motherhening he does lmaooo
Chicken Yuan was one almost cooked that one time but he was able to fight the cook his rudimentary cultivation qi by turning his feathers into deadly blades!! Thus CQM discovered the wonder that was that chicken, and after assessing their cultivation-- very far away from the kitchen of course-- it was agreed to let it be. So Chicken Yuan is allowed to sit at lessons (even though it can't answer questions, it eventually learns to move a brush with its qi, so it can communicate clearly with the other disciples!
Everyone is very excited about this phenomena, so Chicken Yuan doesn't stay at one peak but takes lessons at all of them and spends time with the head disciples. Yue Qingyuan is very fond of it, but Shen Qingqiu HATES it. Food should stay food, not become intelligent! He tries to kill it one time but Chicken Yuan defends himself and squawks away. Chicken Yuan is very fond of Liu Qingge, who will try to teach him some combat techniques, though most of the time he'll just bring it over to the platform demonstrations so the chicken can learn from watching. Having found out the chicken's presence is very calming, Mu Qingfang recommends Liu Qingge to take it with him when he meditates, so chicken and man become meditation pals!
Absorbing the energy from the Ling Xi Caves allows Chicken Yuan to cultivate its core and, after some months of doing that, it's able to develop a human voice!!! Chicken Yuan asks its martial siblings to call him Shen Yuan and it specifies that it considers himself a male, despite being a hen. CQMS is just wildly overjoyed they have their own talking chicken, and are excited to see where Shen Yuan's cultivation will take him.
Shen Qingqiu continues to hate the chicken, SPECIALLY because it stole his name JUST to annoy him (pls, who do you think you are, the center of the universe??), Yue Qingyuan invites Shen Yuan over to have tea and converse, specially about Shen Yuan's knowledge and how it managed to cultivate his core. Mu Qingfang along with the peak lord responsible for this kind of stuff (mxtx when are you going to give us more cqm lore) invite Shen Yuan over for tests and examinations, since this kind of event needs to be studied and documented.
The younger disciples LOVE Shen Yuan the Chicken. They pick him up and take him everywhere, for their classes as well as their leisure activities.
Now you're wondering, since Chicken Yuan is a hen, shouldn't he be laying eggs? Well, he DOES!!! And he's mortified about it, but what can you do? At least he's contributing to the sect's food reserves in some way!! He can't wait until he gets a human form and is able to control his cycle. This happens some years later, coincidentally when the Qing generation ascends!
The Peak Lords are able to see his human form for the first time, when Shen Yuan emerges from the Ling Xi Caves after half a year of closed door seclusion. They were expecting it to have a, well, an aviary appearance, but aside from his hair looking slightly featherish, his appearance is that of a handsome, pretty young man!
Shen Yuan was found in the Qing Jing Peak pen, so he's technically a Qing Jing Peak disciples that answers to Shen Qingqiu, but in reality he has such a good relationship with the newly ascended Sect Leader that he can do as he wishes and Zhangmen-shixiong will have no choice but to pacify both parties.
Itching for a chance to get out and roam the world, Shen Yuan takes up mission after mission; he's not mush interested in romance, though he loves spending time with his martial siblings! Except that fucking traitor Shang Qinghua, who he never tried to get along with. Fate would have it that they go on a mission together with Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge and Shang Qinghua lets out some modern slang that will clue Chicken Yuan to his identity, so they'll soon get to talk about PIDW and everything that's happening.
Of course, Shang Qinghua will start calling him Chicken-bro, and Shen Yuan will try to pick at his eyes every. single. time.
Their newfound acquaintance makes Shen Qingqiu even more suspicious and annoyed at the existence of the chicken cultivator, but it's not like he can accuse them of anything (yet).
Fun fact! Shen Yuan can turn into a chicken in the middle of a fight, which really shocks his opponents! Instead of leaves, he uses his own feathers as deadly weapons. He also fashioned a fan out of them, though he does have normal fans, a collection that started when his dear Liu-shixiong gifted him one.
Qi Qingqi has complicated feelings about Chicken Yuan. She allowed him to cross the Rainbow Bridge up until it revealed himself as a male, at which point she interrogated him thoroughly to make sure he wasn't interested in harassing her disciples. Shen Yuan had to insist that even if he considered himself a male, he was biologically a hen, so his inclinations were... ehem, that of a female- OR SOMETHING in between.
So Qi Qingqi knows the chicken is gay and thus allows him to visit her peak.
Lastly: Shen Yuan will show up at Cang Qiong Mountain’s recruitment trial, bat his eyes at the sect leader, and poach Luo Binghe from Shen Qingqiu. There are two wolves batling inside Yue Qingyuan, the one that wants to give Shen Qingqiu everything and the one that's a reasonable man who knows Shen Yuan is the best choice. Using his wifebeam and his feathery charm, as well as a look that says "are you really going to allow him to keep doing that? Aren't you worry he's cultivating bad karma for himself?" (they've already had that conversation), Shen Yuan manages to stir Yue Qingyuan to the correct choice.
Ning Yingying, clapping her hands: "Shidi, you are fortunate to have Chicken Shizun as your teacher!"
Luo Binghe, not having a clue what she's talking about: Chicken Shizun...?