After seizing control of the body, the ancient god looked at Bai Qi before him, a hint of mockery on his face. "Kid, I can feel that you are powerful, but you are far from my match. However, rest assured, as a reward for you severely injuring that fool, I will kill you instantly, guaranteeing you a painless death."
Seeing the ancient god's triumphant demeanor, Bai Qi's lips curved slightly, and he let out a soft snort. "Do you know why you were exploited and imprisoned by Ertos for so many years?"
At Bai Qi's words, the ancient god faltered for a moment, his expression clearly darkening. Nevertheless, he patiently retorted, "Why?"
"Because of your arrogant stupidity. It is precisely because of this that you..."
Bai Qi's words clearly struck a nerve with the ancient god. Despite his current regal appearance of a king returned, wielding absolute power, he had indeed fallen victim to Ertos's scheme back then, forcing him to use his trump card.
Enraged, the ancient god, without waiting for Bai Qi to finish, unleashed his massive serpentine maw from above, swallowing Bai Qi whole.
But in the next instant, Bai Qi, trapped within the serpent's maw, revealed his true form. His body grew at a visible rate, and before the ancient god could react, his rapidly expanding form tore through the serpent's mouth from the inside.
"You... how is this possible!"
Witnessing Bai Qi escape and reveal his true form, the ancient god's eyes were filled with shock and fear.
He was shocked that the opponent had hidden so deeply, to the point where even he hadn't detected any trace of disguise. He was terrified because the Bai Qi now in his true form exhibited an aura and power that was no weaker than his own.
"No, I must leave here. Now is not the time to fight this guy to the death."
Despite his earlier bravado, this guy was more cowardly than anyone else. Otherwise, he wouldn't have lurked for so long, waiting for the perfect moment to seize control of the body.
Now that the two sides were evenly matched, the ancient god, having finally regained control of his body, had many matters to attend to. He had no intention of wasting precious time and energy here in a desperate struggle with Bai Qi.
However, as the ancient god wished to depart, Bai Qi had no intention of letting him go. With a thought, a spatial barrier instantly materialized, isolating the entire cavity from the outside world.
This was no joke; this fragment of the world was currently within the main world. If he allowed this creature to escape, its ancient god aura alone would cause immense destruction to the main world.
Neither righteousness nor malevolence could be permitted.
Thus, almost immediately after Bai Qi reported the situation, both righteousness and malevolence, acting in concert, constructed a robust spatial barrier to prevent the ancient god's escape.
"Evil Dragon, do you truly intend to fight me to the bitter end?"
Bai Qi shook his head and said with great confidence, "The fish will die, but the net will not break."
With that, Bai Qi vanished from his spot. He reappeared before the ancient god, his two draconic claws seizing the ancient god's body, flipping him 180 degrees, and slamming him heavily onto the ground. Then, dragon's breath and heat rays were unleashed simultaneously.
Even though this creature lived in volcanic caves near lava and possessed specialized organs for storing magma, it ultimately lived nearby, not directly within the lava.
While it might have a certain tolerance for high temperatures, this tolerance was completely negligible in the face of Bai Qi's scorching dragon's breath.
Under the combustion of Bai Qi's dragon's breath, the ancient god's body blackened at a visible rate, only for new flesh to rapidly regenerate, replacing the burned tissue.
Of course, the ancient god's healing was not without cost. As its wounds healed rapidly, its body also withered at an astonishing pace.
In less than a minute, the ancient god had consumed all that Ertos had accumulated over a century.
"Ah!"
The ancient god would not sit idly by, watching Ertos's accumulated resources vanish in its grasp. Su Nan Novel Network.
Seizing an opening, the ancient god exerted immense force, its powerful serpentine tail lashing out fiercely at Bai Qi.
While this level of attack would not inflict significant damage on Bai Qi, it was enough to interrupt his continuous onslaught.
After being flung away from him, the ancient god's bare body surprisingly grew a pair of human arms. Perhaps due to their recent growth, these arms appeared exceptionally delicate, like those of a newborn infant.
Naturally, the ancient god did not expend energy to manifest arms for aesthetic purposes. It reached towards the direction of the serpent's head, which Bai Qi had torn apart, and from it, drew forth a massive, blood-red greatsword.
Setting aside the question of why this greatsword was hidden within the ancient god's body, its appearance alone was ominous. The blade was an intense blood-red, and numerous blood-red skeletal remains clung to it.
After drawing the sword, the ancient god's body shrank considerably again, indicating that merely extracting the sword had consumed a significant portion of its strength.
Yet, even so, upon gripping this sword, the ancient god seemed to gain an incredible power and twisted its body, actively launching an offensive against Bai Qi.
Having gained the upper hand in their previous exchange and having gauged the opponent's capabilities, Bai Qi was not intimidated by the ancient god's charge. He met it head-on.
Bai Qi was quite confident in the resilience of his own body. Even with a weapon in hand, he didn't think much of it, and met the attack with his claws.
*Squelch!*
What happened next greatly exceeded Bai Qi's expectations.
His robust draconic claws not only failed to block the descending greatsword but were effortlessly sliced off as if cutting through tofu.
The piercing pain made Bai Qi gasp, but he did not falter. Enduring the agony, he retaliated with a backhand slap, sending the ancient god, who was too slow to retract his sword and parry, flying away. Then, he unleashed a barrage of dragon's breath at its face.
Bai Qi had intended to incinerate the opponent from a distance with his dragon's breath, but the ancient god delivered another significant surprise.
Just as the ancient god was desperately holding on, using the greatsword as a shield, Bai Qi felt his severed right hand throbbing with an itch in addition to the pain.
Normally, Bai Qi could repair such minor injuries in an instant. The fact that he couldn't immediately repair it this time had already made him feel a sense of unease. Looking down, he confirmed his suspicion.
His severed right hand had indeed regenerated. However, the regenerated right hand looked disturbingly Lovecraftian. The original five fingers had transformed into tentacles, which were covered in dense eyes. A multitude of mouths of varying sizes had appeared on both the palm and the back of the hand. The entire hand had turned a bizarre blood-red, and this crimson hue was steadily expanding, creeping up his arm towards his body.
"What in the hell is this thing?"
Bai Qi was taken aback by the change in his right hand. Without hesitation, he decisively severed the infected tissue from his body. To ensure complete removal, Bai Qi even cut away a portion of the uninfected flesh.