prologue.

The Higher Star Kingdom

The Cradle of the Primordial Phoenix

One of the primordial hundred Kingdoms that appeared in the universe, the Kingdom of the primordial Phoenix was one of the strongest, as well as the Kingdom of the primordial Dragons — their eternal enemies, with whom they fought for dominance in the higher Realm.

Each Phoenix and Dragon, it would seem, had hatred and dislike for each other in their blood, which lasted throughout the history of the two races. Sometimes even they themselves did not understand the true reason for their enmity, succumbing to instinctive and even herd feelings.

Now, in an incredibly beautiful, divine forest, where all the vegetation consisted of different shades of red, giant trees that reached the clouds themselves, and a variety of plants that could be considered the most valuable precious herbs for cultivation in the lower realm, but here they were nothing more than weeds. The sky turned red, and pressure appeared, from which many wild animals died.

It all happened because of the manifestation of the Aura of dominance of a person whose figure was on the ground, from whose body behind the back came the projection of a huge fire bird in the sky.

***

"Don't even begin your futile attempts to resist me. I'm at the ninth Rank of the "True God" stage, and you with your fourth Rank can't even touch a hair on my head, so keep lying down. And you wouldn't be able to, because I stabbed you with my poisonous sword, "killing gods", a relic of my clan. A man of about twenty years of age spoke belligerently, coldly looking at the lying opponent, "There is no antidote for him, and it's even surprising that you didn't die right away.

Thin eyebrows like swords, cheekbones and predatory bird-like features framed his pale jade face. His eyes, two crimson gems, glowed with hidden menace as his sharp gaze fell on the figure of a man lying on the ground in front of him and bleeding. The aura of death was emitted by his divine body. A huge image of a figure burning with crimson flames was flying behind him. It was the "Primordial Phoenix".

The flames from the body of the legendary immortal bird seemed to engulf the entire sky surrounded by a huge Forest.

"But I still have to admit that you are a true genius, Jinlong. To reach the stage of the "True God" – the fourth Rank in five hundred years, while coming from the lower Kingdom, it is very commendable for a stupid lizard. It's not for nothing that you are considered a genius on a par with me. Or did you think we wouldn't understand that you were hiding under a different identity? How stupid! His voice exuded indifference, clearly a hidden note of envy, "You don't even have the support of the Primordial Dragon Realm, how did you even have the courage to show up here? But you, to your great regret, crossed my path, so die and curse only your miserable fate in your failure! And let me reveal all your secrets.

The man, sprawled on the prickly red gravel, only wheezed loudly and listened with contempt to the monologue of the victorious opponent. The red-haired man, from such a pitiful appearance, tsked and went down to Tom on his haunches, looking into his blood-drenched eyes.

"I don't believe that without some Ancient Era treasure, someone like him, a resident of the mortal Realm, could reach such a level in a short period of time. Even despite the lizard's bloodline, it's impossible," an ominous thought flashed through the Phoenix descendant's mind as he looked around the almost lifeless body.

"I don't have much free time to waste on you, so die soon. I have to go comfort my beloved Rahab and give her the "Divine Fruit", — The man got up and slowly directed the blade of the sword to the chest of the lying one.

***

Really? I am the one who was born in the mortal realm, where the resources, the "Qi of the earth and sky" were so weak that I had to sweat and blood for cultivation, but still I remained at the third "Mortal Stage". If I had remained an ordinary cultivator, sooner or later I would have been able to despair, surrender to fate and remain the same trash that everyone mocked in the Long clan. But everything changed on the very day I turned fourteen.

Because of a bad mood, the heir of the "Long" clan beat me half to death — I barely got out of the clutches of perdition then. Because of this, it seemed, the memory of my past life was awakened, where I was a simple introverted teenager in the modern world of the twenty-first century. But the strangest thing was that I didn't remember my past name, my appearance, or my family; I only know that they were wonderful people who doted on me, but that's it.

I'm even glad to some extent that I don't remember all this, because in the end I'm not burdened by memories of the past. I remembered that I was "ordinary", and that says it all. My life was boring, I had no relationships and friends, but the most valuable thing I got from the memory of my past life was knowledge of "Manhua", "ranobe", "novellas", "comics", "movies" and "anime". It was then that I realized that I was in the novel "The Confrontation of Heaven", which I had read in a previous life.

I was reborn into a second-rate orphan Cultivator who had to betray the main character of this story, who was the only person in the Long Clan who treated him well. And for what?! For some kind of cultivation enhancement pill?! But, thank heaven, I didn't become such a person.

Thanks to the fact that my past life has been preserved in my memory, I finally have a chance to radically change my current existence. I knew a lot of secret places where there are "lucky chances", pills, techniques, legacies, knowledge of the plot, all this was known to me.

What I eventually took advantage of, becoming a genius of cultivation and, having taken revenge on my abusers, I received the legacy of the "God of the Primordial Golden Dragon". There have been many things in my life: grief, happiness, betrayal, comrades, women… My whole path has been traversed through a sea of blood of my enemies.

I lived my life to the fullest, but without overstepping my moral principles. As a result, I ascended to the higher Realm, becoming the new true Primordial Golden Dragon, the god Chu Jinlong! In the mortal Realm, on every planet, I was a legend, having received many titles: "God of Alchemy", "God of Formations", "Divine Blacksmith", "Golden Dragon of the first Century", "God of Medicine", "Asura", "Genius", "Savior of the Worlds", there are countless of them.

Later, I became a legend in the immortal Realm, when I broke through to the immortal level, thus beginning my path of legend already in the Realm of the strongest beings of this universe. There were many moments where I could have been destroyed, even with the knowledge of history there were many inconsistencies, after all, it was the real world, not a novella.

I was able to overcome everything and become a "True God" of the fourth rank in five hundred years, which was considered impossible, because the strongest recognized genius in the entire supreme kingdom reached the level of the fourth "True God" only in nine hundred years. That genius was the one who was trying to kill me right now—the Prince of the Primordial Phoenix Empire, Chao Phuong!

The damn bastard followed me after I won a competition organized by his clan, in which his fiancee was supposed to win, for the right to possess the "Divine Fruit". The fruit that is able to resurrect, and in a literal sense. The person who ate it received purification from the impurities of the whole essence, healing of any injuries of the soul or body, not to mention an increase in the level of cultivation, purification and strengthening of the bloodline, an increase in strength, and this is only the smallest of its advantages.

He (the fetus) was vital to me. The fact is that during one of the many battles, I was poisoned by a poison unknown even to me... It slowly devours the flesh, which will eventually lead to death. That's why I came here for this wonderful prize.

Then what is the point of organizing such competitions if the winner is eventually killed after leaving the imperial capital? If they don't get another whore from their Clan? Most likely, it's all for the sake of the "prestige" of the family, well, how can it be without throwing dust in the eyes of others, they say: "Look at the prizes in the competitions that we arrange!" Strange mentality of this universe.

Maybe they would have succeeded, because my opponent was another "Genius" who reached the second level of the "True God" in eight hundred years. All the participants there were initially weaker than her, and she had a trump card just in case, so they were not afraid to put up such a prize. But for them I turned out to be a dark horse, and in a fair fight after counting fights in my weakened state, I still defeated her and took the prize. The crown artifacts didn't even help her.

But after my departure from the empire, during a halt in the forest, I, tired after numerous battles, was overtaken by this fried chicken, which attacked me without any warning, with the ninth level of the "True God". The blow of the poisonous sword overtook me before I even had time to realize what was happening. Defensive and emergency teleported artifacts didn't help much. The impact of which is capable of cutting planets at the speed of light, like tofu in the lower kingdom. I was mortally wounded.

Although my strength is capable of challenging the heavens, being only at the fourth Rank. She is comparable to a "True God" of the seventh rank because of the solid foundation and quality of my dual cultivation of body and soul and various divine treasures. Well, you should not forget about the pedigree of the "Original Golden Dragon" either.

But, alas, the level difference is still too big, and also this damn poison with which he reacted from the artifact's poison... He's starting to destroy my body and will soon get to my soul! Right now, I'm not even able to use my strength to defend or escape.

I was relaxing in vain. I should have been more careful. They found out after all. The Concealing Divine Artifact didn't help much. But I have something in case of such developed outcomes of events.

I have never considered myself invincible, so I have prepared a plan for my retreat. Eh, who could have known that everything would turn out this way? No wonder there was no fried chicken in the original story. Eh, underestimated.

***

If anyone were in this forest right now, they would be able to observe an extremely interesting development of events. The man who was lying on the ground covered in blood took off his hat and mask, hiding his appearance.

Hair the color of molten gold, eyebrows like sharp swords, domineering eyes like two amber gems that glowed with hidden power, snow-white delicate skin seemed to glow slightly with gold, a straight small nose, cheekbones, and slightly plump lips… This man could definitely be called the most beautiful even among the immortals with his calm face, but everything was spoiled by the dark green Miasma that spread with terrifying speed throughout his body from the back wound received by the sword.

— What a cliche! — he spat out, grunting and spitting from lack of oxygen in his lungs, — Villains like to talk so much in front of an enemy who has not yet been completely finished off, thereby giving the enemy time for some action, - a smile lit up his face, exposing red teeth, — Chiao Phuong.

The red-haired man tensed, sensing danger in his gut. He had to urgently escape from here, which he did, flying at his maximum speed, faster than the speed of light. "It's too late to run. The death technique of the "Primordial Golden Dragon", the fusion of the first elements — "Supernova Explosion", — a quiet voice sounded with mockery.

The following events happened instantly. The golden-haired man's body began to crack at the seams, multicolored starlight began to emanate from him. There was a terrifying explosion that shook the entire Realm of the "Primordial Phoenix", erasing the entire huge forest on the planet, leaving only a huge crater in its place.

The force of the explosion was terrifying — if it had happened in the mortal realm, it could have destroyed several nearby planets. But the Immortal Realm is more stable, which was logical — if it wasn't, it would have been destroyed long ago in the battles of some numerous strong cultivators.

The fact of the matter is that the immortal Kingdom itself puts pressure on cultivators, not allowing them to use all their power, thereby suppressing it.

To remove this restriction, it is necessary to break through the sphere of the "True God". There are no such individuals anymore – they killed each other during the war of the Ancient era.

Thus two geniuses died. The news of this shocked the entire immortal Realm. And his speed didn't help the redhead; the force of the explosion of this technique was still faster.