Even after he coated his long sword with a huge amount of Battle Qi and created another sword by condensing a huge amount of Battle Qi in his left hand as well, the man in black still had enough energy left to use hardening Qi.

Hardening Qi was a technique that could only be used by some well-trained warrior from the 7th rank and above. It was very difficult because in order to create the hardening Qi a person must feel his utilized Qi and precisely control it inside his body.

It was something that required high amounts of Battle Qi and perfect control in order to wrap around your whole skin and the interior of one's body with it. Battle Qi armor and hardening Qi were very different from one another. Hardening Qi was the next level of Battle Qi armor.

Any warrior from the 4th rank to the 6th rank could use Battle Qi armor, but only the warrior from the 7th rank and above could use hardening Qi and not anyone but a well trained one. Unlike the battle qi armor which required the user to release his battle outside his body to form an armor to protect his body, the hardening qi was the opposite.

The hardening qi was when the user spread the battle qi within or inside his whole body protecting his internal and vital organs and spread it on his skin as well making it as hard as steel. It was like the ultimate defense. However the battle qi armor was different, it only protected your body from the outside or from getting hit, once it's broken or an attack actually pierced or broke through it, the user could be heavily injured depends on the strength of the attack.

While the battle Qi armor protected the exterior of the human body, the hardening Qi did both. Not only it protected the exterior of the human body, but it also protected the interior such as the internal organs etc.

It was also the main reason that the man in black survived Shad's first attack.

Looking at the man in black with the two long swords in his hands, one coated with battle Qi while the other was made of pure battle Qi and yet, he still had enough energy to use hardening Qi at the same time, Shad was a little surprise.

Hardening Qi might look and seemed simple but Shad knew how strong the body of a person that used hardening Qi was. Back when he was in the capital, he had witnessed two imperial knights spar with one another. One was a 6th rank while the other was a 7th rank.

Back then , the 7th rank warrior stood still while the 6th rank warrior attacked him continuously while using his sword, and no matter how many time he slashed him or pierced him with his sword, the 6th rank warrior was unable to even leave a mark or a dent on his body. It was untill when he coated his sword with battle qi did he start to slightly injure him, However, the injuries were so small and non-fatal that they could be considered as negligible. From that, one can imagine the difference of power between a 6th and 7th rank warrior.

" It seemed like you do have some skills after all. Being able to use hardening Qi after wasting that much energy to coat your sword with battle qi even created another sword with pure energy, is no easy feat. However, no matter how hard you tried, there's no way you can defeat me. Whether it was speed or pure physical strength, you are still far below me." Shad said while looking at that man nonchalantly.

He was indeed right, despite the man in black being able to use hardening Qi which would make it a little harder for Shad to actually injure with his magic spells, he was still no match for Shad.

One has to understand, Shad's true strength wasn't the fact that he could use lightning energy freely unlike the other mages, or the fact that he had the eye of the red lightning dragon emperor that allowed him to see through almost everything, whether it was an attack, battle skills or illusion magic spells. His true strength was in fact his lightning speed.

It could be said that he was the fastest person in the Egul continent so far, and his speed was unmatched. Furthermore, even if he was unable to defeat an opponent, he could easily flee relying on his speed. If he wanted to run, basically no one could keep up with him.

As they said, in all martial arts under the heavens, there's no strength that can't be matched, there's only speed that can't be matched. In this world, the truly powerful people can only compare in two things, speed, and strength, even for the mages. However, Shad had both as the lightning energy running through his body not only increased his speed but also elevated his physical strength beyond the limitation of living flesh or any warrior of the same rank.

" We'll see about that." coldly answered the man in black as he pounced towards Shad with his two long swords.

He seemed to be using some light footing technique as his speed has dramatically increased.

" Demonic Cross Slash." He yelled as he held the two swords in his hands together into a cross shape position before he suddenly slashed them towards Shad. The two swords sent out a fiery-red light beam into a cross shape.

The fiery-red light beam, that seemed just like a cross made of flames, exploded forth from the two swords and shot towards Shad at an astonishing speed. The undulations contained within caused one's heart to chill. In fact, faintly, one could detect a slight bloody scent spreading out.

The instant that fiery-red cross beam shot forth, and even before he could reach Shad, the man in black did not stop there but made his second attack and chopped down his two swords towards Shad in rage.

~Bang~Bang~

In the meantime, wherever the fiery-red cross beam energy passed through, it directly tore apart the ground below and created a several meters long ditch. The most frightening thing about that attack was the fact that it kept on getting bigger and bigger as it approached Shad as though it was about to swallow him whole and vaporized his bones.

Looking at the incoming attack, a red light flashed across Shad's right pupil, as his face turned increasingly solemn. At the same time, his whole body was covered with a powerful red lightning energy and did something that caused the man in black to suddenly stopped his second attack midway and subconsciously took several steps backward.

Shad unbelievably stretched his right hand forward at the incoming fiery-red cross beam, which directly changed into a huge red lightning dragon claw and grabbed this terrifyingly fiery-red beam energy slash.

His right hand that transformed into a huge red lightning dragon claw and the fiery-red beam continuously clashed against each other. As the fiery red energy beam showed some sign of dissipation, Shad exerted a bit of strength into his right hand and pinched the fiery red energy beam slash directly breaking it into pieces. The pieces changed into fire element energy and disappeared into thin air.

" Not bad, but this simple attack isn't enough to harm me. Now it's my time to test the level of your hardening Qi."

Before the trembling and horrified man in black had the time to react, a lightning silhouette flashed in front of him. When he looked carefully, he noticed that this figure was none other than the 4th imperial prince that was a few meters away from him.

At the same time, Shad unleashed a fist of his own. This formless fist that carried no transformation or any technique was shrouded with a huge amount red lightning energy making it as big as a giant's fist.

That fist was so overwhelmingly powerful and terrifying that it gave the impression that it was tearing the fabric of space itself. Even the Heaven quivered in the face of this unbeatable fist.

As for the man in black, he was instantly suppressed the moment this fist appeared. He felt as though he had lost all his strength to fight back and his mind was blank unable to react to the incoming life threatening danger. It was as though he was looking at the strongest punch across all the eons.

~Bang~

Despite being suppressed and powerless when facing that incoming punch , as an experienced warrior, the man in black still managed to raise both of his swords to block the incoming attack. Unfortunately, both of them instantly shattered into pieces against this powerful fist.

Shad's powerful punch finally smashed into the chest of the man in black like a giant hammer, smashing his internal organs. His broken bones and flesh and pieces of his intestines splashed out from his body. He didn't even have the time to scream. Eventually, his blood stained the forest and the remnants of his body slammed into the trees within the forest.

That overwhelmingly powerful punch didn't only destroy his weapons, it also pulverized his body. His body shattered into countless pieces with mangled bits flying everywhere.

Looking at the mangled bits of the man in black that splashed everywhere within the forest, with delightful smile on his face, Shad slowly raised his right fist in front of his eyes and murmured to himself ." It seems like by using all my strength, I can really kill an early 7th rank warrior. If the the Eye of the Red Lightning Dragon Emperor could increase my strength to this extent then how powerful would I be after I find a way to conquer the Great Tower."