The lightning Jaguar's territory was spread out to many parts of the forest. But the one closest to the village was a part with slightly thicker and densely packed trees. It took Nero a day and a half to get here. Although the sun was out, this place was almost as dark as night; only little rays of sunlight touched the forest floor.
The tree branches were thicker than a water barrel and leaves were broad enough to prevent sunlight from reaching the floor.
"Mm?... Was there a fight here? Nero furrowed his brows. He could see many disoriented claw marks and several places that were charred black from what seemed to be a lightning attack.
The place still had traces of lightning Qi essence fluctuations.
"Must have come from the lightning Jaguar. But I don't see any bloodstains on the claw marks which means it might not be wounded only exhausted."
Grrr!
A loud growl suddenly echoed out. Nero narrowed his eyes. Tracing the growl to its origin, Nero's gaze fell on a dark cave about a mile away from where he stood. Thick lightning essence Qi emanated from the cave. Seconds later, the dark figure of a yellow-eyed beast slowly emerged. The lightning Jaguar stood at the entrance of the cave and roared, slightly shaking the ground.
"Only one?"
The lightning Jaguar is a level three wild beast known for its use of lightning Qi essence and likewise, an unimaginable speed! The lightning Jaguar roared again and thick lightning coils appeared circling its body like snakes. Looking at this beast, one could feel the bloodlust leaking from its eyes.
Bang!
The lightning Jaguar suddenly launched itself at Nero, charging at an astonishing speed with the lightning coiling around its body. Nero only stepped to the side, dodging the frontal attack of the lightning Jaguar, and then punched out towards it. The lightning Jaguar instinctively reacted and dodged the incoming fist. Nero's fist carried with it an imposing momentum and earth-shattering shockwave.
Although the lightning Jaguar dodged a direct hit from that punch, it didn't leave unscathed. Its body was blown away like a rag doll and finally hit a tree. The ground beneath Nero cracked and the nearby leaves were blown away. Blood trickled down one of the legs of the lightning Jaguar.
"Hmmm? This one is tougher and has more intelligence than the other one. It didn't think I would dodge and attack like that, and it reacted just in time."
The lightning Jaguar stood where it was growling louder than it did before. It was angry for the injuries it just sustained. Its eye burned with hatred but it didn't attack the way it did the last time. Instead, it climbed unto the huge trees disappearing out of sight.
"Hmmm?" Nero slightly furrowed his brows.
"It hid from me…"
Before Nero could complete his sentence, a ball of lightning shot towards him from behind a tree.
A ball of lightning shot towards Nero from behind a tree, but this wasn't the tree that the lightning Jaguar had disappeared into. Nero only slid to the side to avoid the attack.
"Sneak attack… not bad." Nero sneered.
"For a moment there, I thought I couldn't find you, but now that I know your trick, you won't get away from me."
The lightning Jaguar is a lightning essence Qi wild beast. Apart from its fierce agility, another advantage it had was its…
"Territory! This place is full of huge towering trees that are densely packed together. Not only that but when I stepped into its territory, I could feel a tingling sensation running around my body. But now I've watched closely, that wasn't just a sensation, it was lightning!"
After Nero made this shocking discovery, his eyes widened. This was truly the case. The lightning Jaguar imbues its lightning essence Qi into its territory. The trees, ground, leaves, the air, and so on, are saturated with the lightning essence Qi from the lightning Jaguar. The tingling sensation that Nero felt was the lightning essence Qi trying to run amok within his body.
Due to its naturally violent nature, the lightning imbued into the environment was trying to unleash its pent-up energy. If one was to set foot in here, everything found within this place becomes lethal because of the saturated lightning essence Qi in them. Direct contact with these things is the same as being struck by lightning; it numbs the body. Even the wind blowing against the body becomes lethal and directly numbs the body.
Fighting the lightning Jaguar in a state whereby you have to fend off the violent but silent attack of the lightning essence Qi of the environment can be considered suicide. From the moment one steps their foot into their territory, they are placed at the mercy of the lightning Jaguar. Even when confronted outside their territory, they are still considered a big threat.
"If this is a mechanism that it thought of, then it goes without saying that the beasts here have a certain level of intelligence. From the smoke cloud of the flaming boars to the camouflage of the Bardian dragon and now the concept of using the environment as a weapon by the lightning Jaguar!" Nero said, surprised.
He then sneered, "But unfortunately, your opponent is me. If it was some other person, then you might have a slim chance of escape."
Many balls of lightning were shot at Nero at almost the same time, however, he swiftly dodged them all. He subdued the violent lightning essence Qi that tried to wreak havoc in his body and the ones that saturated the environment did not affect him.
"Mmm…" Nero suddenly felt something. He traced the Qi fluctuations to the dark cave of the lightning Jaguar.
"What is this?..." Nero casually tilted his head to dodge a lightning ball aimed at him. He didn't seem to place his showdown with the lightning Jaguar as anything important. He gently walked towards the cave.
Roar!
The lightning Jaguar leaped out from the trees, its body seething with coils of lightning. Seeing how pointless its attacks were against Nero, it wanted to launch an all-out surprise attack on him.