Bai Qi, having completed the severing of the great serpent's tail, showed no hesitation. He exerted force with his legs, launching himself upward like a bullet fired from a chamber, piercing directly through the serpent's head.
However, this alone was not enough to kill the great serpent. Almost instantly, the part of the serpent's head pierced by Bai Qi repaired itself, and the tail severed by Bai Qi regrew.
Looking up at Bai Qi, the great serpent's mouth opened wide, and a piercing ultrasonic wave surged towards him.
Bai Qi reacted swiftly, flashing away just before the ultrasonic wave hit him. Yet, he had a sense of familiarity with the ultrasonic wave the other party had suddenly unleashed.
With the ultrasonic wave dodged, the great serpent immediately twisted its body, its enormous form rolling towards Bai Qi.
"It seems you haven't learned your lesson."
Not wanting to waste time, Bai Qi raised his hands, blocking the rolling serpent. He then exerted his strength, thrusting his hands into the serpent's body like sharp swords. As Bai Qi's arms exerted force, the serpent's massive body was thrown away by Bai Qi, smashing fiercely against the rock wall.
Before the serpent could react, Bai Qi had already rushed before it. His right hand, encased in magic, moved like a sharp sword, swinging fiercely and cleanly severing half of the serpent's head.
Looking at the "corpse" of the great serpent lying on the ground, Bai Qi nodded with satisfaction. In Bai Qi's view, even an ancient god would not survive having half its head severed.
Here, Bai Qi was too naive. The great world is full of wonders. While severing the head could kill most creatures, it did not necessarily work for ancient gods.
As it happened, the corpse that had just fallen to the ground, not even a few seconds to rest, began to stir again. The half-head that had been severed surprisingly grew back.
Of course, flesh and blood do not grow out of thin air. Even ancient gods sometimes had to abide by the law of conservation of mass.
As the half-head regrew, the serpent's body seemed to shrink, its length shortening significantly.
Seeing this, Bai Qi recalled the scene just moments ago and instantly understood.
This fellow was not immortal. The half-head and the previously broken tail did not grow back out of thin air; all of this came at a price.
The reanimated great serpent became even more ferocious, intent on killing Bai Qi.
This time, even if the great serpent could win, it would be a net loss. The energy consumed just to repair its head was accumulated by the serpent over nearly a hundred years.
War, morale, and anger could play a certain role, but the latter two only served as auxiliary factors. What truly determined a war was one's own strength.
From the beginning, Ertos's strength was far inferior to Bai Qi's. Therefore, even though he was now attacking madly, all he achieved was more injuries.
"Ah! I hate you!"
Looking at his own battered body, the great serpent actually spoke human words, its eyes filled with hatred. "I have given up everything for power, even becoming a filthy beast. Why? Why can I still not kill you!"
Just as Ertos was consumed by his impotent rage, a low voice sounded behind his head, "Ignorant mortal, do you know you have only grasped a mere fraction of its essence, and the power you can wield is only two or three parts."
"Who! Who is speaking?"
This voice, as if from the netherworld, instantly calmed the enraged Ertos. Long-dormant memories were awakened, filled with fear of this voice.
"Your strength is too weak. Leave the rest to me. You, die obediently."
The great serpent's back began to contort, and in a flash, a human face grew out. The serpent's body also increased by thirty percent the moment the human face appeared.
"No, impossible, how can you still be here? I will not surrender to you..."
Even though Ertos roared repeatedly, desperately trying to resist the serpent within him, he was no match for the true ancient god. He was, after all, only a semi-ancient god, not to mention that the battle with Bai Qi had consumed a large amount of his mental energy, making him even less capable of contending with the serpent.
Before the world of the great serpent collapsed, its world was ruled by a family known as the Golden Family. The ancestors of this family had unified their world through their great strength. However, with the passage of generations, the bloodline of the later generations became increasingly diluted, and their power was greatly inferior to that of their ancestors.
Especially Ertos, the fourth son of this family. His mother was an outsider, and the family bloodline he inherited after his birth was very thin. While his strength was considerable compared to ordinary people, it was insignificant compared to other members of the family. Not to mention his three older brothers and one older sister ahead of him, even collateral branches of the family could easily suppress him. The only brother who was similar in strength to him had been banished to the barbaric lands for committing a crime.
The dilution of his bloodline subjected Ertos to endless humiliation within the family. Coupled with the presence of three older brothers and an older sister, the possibility of him inheriting the family's great enterprise was minuscule.
Unable to bear the humiliation, Ertos decided to take a different path and seek other ways to enhance his strength, especially after hearing that his brother, who had been banished to the barbaric lands, had actually increased his strength through amputation.
Ertos, of course, would not use such a foolish and slow method to improve his strength. However, he was inspired by this incident and secretly contacted a less powerful ancient god.
Originally, resisting ancient gods from outside the realm was also one of the Golden Family's tasks. However, as the Golden Family's power declined, they gradually became unable to cope. This led to many ancient gods descending directly or in their avatar form.
The one Ertos contacted was the weakest among the many descending ancient gods, the great serpent. Ostensibly a cooperation, they were secretly plotting against each other.
After a long period of mutual scheming, Ertos finally found an opportunity, severely wounded the great serpent, and seized its ancient god body. In the time that followed, Ertos further refined and destroyed the ancient god within his body through various means.
Ertos originally thought that the ancient god's spirit had been annihilated by him. Moreover, after so many years, there had been no reaction from the ancient god at all. Gradually, Ertos let down his guard.
Who would have thought that the ancient god was not dead, but had been hiding deep within the body? As Ertos devoured the flesh of others to improve his strength, the ancient god also quietly took a share.
It was only now, after being severely wounded by Bai Qi, that Ertos's body became extremely weak and his mind extremely unstable. Seizing the opportunity, the ancient god quickly made a move and easily regained control of the body.
Furthermore, unlike Ertos, the ancient god who regained control of the body immediately annihilated Ertos's spirit completely, cutting off his last path to survival.