North of China.
The great desert.
Endless grasslands, with no sign of human habitation for hundreds of miles.
Huang Tian and Jiang Qiao descended from the sky and stood facing each other, a hundred meters apart.
"This place is pretty nice."
"Perfect for a good, long chat."
Jiang Qiao surveyed their surroundings and said with a chuckle.
His injuries remained unchanged.
His waist had nearly been severed, with only a little skin and flesh still connecting it. His upper body looked as though it had simply been "set" on his lower half and might topple over at any moment.
Such a horrific injury would have made anyone's scalp crawl.
But compared with Huang Tian opposite him,
it hardly seemed worth mentioning.
The entire left half of Huang Tian's head was gone. Most of it had been crushed by Jiang Qiao, while he had cut away a smaller portion himself to stop the lightning's corrosion.
But either way,
a man with only half a head, his brain tissue exposed, was a decidedly nauseating sight.
In short,
a man cut in half and a man with his head hacked apart—these two maimed men had gathered to discuss secrets that could shake the entire supernatural circle.
"So."
"Shall we start with introductions?"
"You already know me. My name is Jiang Qiao. What about you? What's your name?"
Jiang Qiao asked with a smile.
"I have long since forgotten my name. I go only by Huang Tian," Huang Tian said coldly.
"All right."
"Huang Tian."
Jiang Qiao was a little speechless.
You're fucking half-dead, and you're still putting on airs?
He could not be bothered to quibble over such details.
"So."
"Huang Tian, my friend, what era are you from? How did you acquire rules? And what allowed you to ascend the divinity staircase?"