Corrupt Creations

Essentially, Qiao Xuan's transformation was the same as Qiao Duyi or Qiao Bao's transformations, but differently from the other members of the Lion's Pride Golden Palace, his, was a bit special. He had attained greater insights in that technique and had a greater affinity with the Golden Lion beast as well, what enabled him to go beyond what any of the other cultivators could ever have gone. 

Thump! Thump! Thump! 

Qiao Xuan's heart beat accelerated and two long and deep gashes opened up at his back, from where bones began to protrude out. 

Arwen wasn't in a hurry to end this fight, but it didn't mean she would just stand there and watch that process, letting him transform peacefully. She opened both of her arms and another huge tornado made out of wind elemental energy and Evergreen Essence, formed in front of her. However, this time it was even bigger than before and it moved twice as fast as well. 

With the power it contained even Qiao Xuan's golden armor would have a tough time resisting its might. As it swirled, the whole sky darkened and the earth began to tremble. 

The huge tornado destroyed the whole area where Qiao Xuan was in, quickly enveloping him in the midst of that huge area of destruction. However, at that moment, his armor started to shine and transform alongside his body. 

A golden shield quickly appeared around his entire body, protecting him from any external factors. That shield was an ability the people from the Lion's Pride Golden Palace had developed for a situation like that. Not only it was like an impenetrable fortress, it would last until the last moment his transformation was still going on. But of course, it costed him a lot of Mana to use it; however, Mana Sovereign practitioners had a vast pool of Mana anyways. 

In a matter of seconds, Qiao Xuan's humane figure safely transformed into a huge golden lion and even though he stood at the eye of the storm, nothing was able to disturb that process. His height was already surpassing ten meters and there were no signs of him stopping the growth. Together with his physical transformation, his golden armor grew immensely bigger, adjusting itself to fit that massive body. 

That armor was an ancient item that belonged to the ancestors of the Lion's Pride Golden Palace and it would only fully shine, when an individual was using it while transformed. The area in the back, where it had been damaged, quickly repaired itself, using the residual energy liberated by the transformation and very quickly, it was back to its perfect condition. 

From inside that dark green tornado, rays of light illuminated the whole world, like a star was about to be born. 

However, Qiao Xuan's transformation was far from the end. Suddenly, at his back side, the brightest golden light emitted so far, left from the gargantuan gashes he still had there. Two openings appeared on his armor, from where something started to come out. There seemed to be something moving around there, something a lion shouldn't have. 

Pah! 

Swoosh! 

The tornado was abruptly disrupted and Qiao Xuan's protective shield was undone as well. However, before the Elf Queen now, there was an oppressive figure of a golden lion. A golden lion that had two massive golden wings... Wings that were encompassing the whole sky. 

Those two giant wings formed in an instant, releasing a prestige that only a Golden Lion King was able to exude. 

ROAR! 

The Winged Golden Lion suddenly roared and the earth shook entirely. 

Everything trembled before the might of the king of the beasts, the one that was not only respected on the land but on the skies as well. 

The pressure being released by Qiao Xuan intensified tenfold, making Arwen feel the environment getting heavy beyond measurements. Her skill had been completely disrupted and even the Evergreen Essence she had injected inside Qiao Xuan's body was long gone already. 

However, the terror known as the king of the beasts had yet to finish the transformation. 

Suddenly, dark and heavy clouds formed at the sky high above them and even the intense battle happening at the Lion's Pride Golden Palace territory, stopped after feeling how severe the weather was changing. 

Katcha! 

Katcha! Katcha! 

Golden lightning snakes started to slither inside those clouds. They moved restlessly, until one of them struck down towards the Lion King. 

Bang! 

When it hit him, instead of doing any damage, it stuck to the surface of his skin, charging his beast body with an electrifying and ominous golden lightning. 

Katcha! 

Katcha!

Katcha! 

More and more lightning bolts hit him, completely enhancing his massive body, creating the perfect beast in the eyes of anyone that lived at the Lion's Pride Golden Palace. 

Qiao Xuan's Lightning Winged Golden Lion transformation had finally ended. It didn't take that much time for him to transform, but the Mana spent on that was exorbitant. However, he was now certain, that the battle would be finished even faster than the time it took for that to happen. 

Qiao Xuan flapped his wings and a golden lightning storm abruptly formed at the area Arwen was standing. There weren't any warnings or omens, before a rain of lightning strikes descended above her head. 

As the lightning strikes were coming down, Arwen lifted her hand while infusing a lot of Mana into her Evergreen Essence. A green dome of poisonous energy suddenly appeared between her and the storm that was coming down, isolating her figure and protecting her from any of those strikes that were mercilessly descending. 

Katcha! 

Crack! 

But suddenly, the green dome exhibited thin cracks that were getting bigger and bigger each time they supported another strike from that lightning storm. The cracks kept expanding, until the whole dome collapsed, leaving the Elf Queen unprotected. 

Suddenly, hundreds of charged thunderbolts showered upon the Elf Queen, threatening to turn her body into powder, but instead of panicking, with her green jade sword that was already enchanted with Evergreen Essence, Arwen started to deflect every single one of those strikes. 

Amidst all that unstoppable lightning shower, there was a small green dot that mythically withstood everything, deflecting the strikes coming at her and moving quickly through the terrain with the help of her wind elemental arts. 

The Lightning Winged Golden Lion suddenly flapped its wings once again, turning into a streak of light that was moving towards Arwen's direction. 

Arwen noticed it was coming at her and realized that she wouldn't be able to handle fighting against Qiao Xuan right at the middle of that storm, so she decided to finally start showing some of her strongest abilities, else she would really suffer some damage. 

The wind around her suddenly stilled and for a brief moment, nothing was able to reach her, not even one of those hundreds of thunderbolts falling down. 

Arwen's eyes shone with a deep green light and her jade sword seemed to have changed as well. It was exuding an energy hundred times stronger than the energy she had displayed until now. 

Suddenly, a fierce gale came out of nowhere, making the lightning storm tremble. 

Arwen held her green jade sword and looked at Qiao Xuan's approaching figure. A second later, she made a cutting motion in the air in front of her while saying: "Evergreen Wind-Rend." 

RIP!!! 

A deep green cut suddenly appeared in the middle of the valley, separating left from right. It happened so quickly, that nothing and no one was able to fully understand what had really happened. 

In reality, the ability Arwen used, was the culmination of one of the high-end wind techniques, the Wind-Rend that Elyra once used, with the perfect infusion of her Evergreen Essence, creating a technique that was hers alone. 

Qiao Xuan was initially right at the center of the place where the cut would be passing by and ripping the space open, but with his beast-like instinct, he felt that a single seconds would decide his life and death there. With his sheer physical prowess and with the help of his left wing, he was able to take ninety degrees right and move away from that area, saving his life. But when Arwen's wind elemental technique divided everything, he still felt a quick stinging pain on his left wing. 

Qiao Xuan looked at that wing, just to realize it was already gone. There was only the remaining piece of bone that once supported it, bleeding profusely. The Lion King wasn't even able to feel any severe pain before he looked at it, just that small stinging sensation. 

It was funny, how he was so confidently feeling that he would defeat the Elf Queen in a brief moment, but just as he started to make his move, he had already suffered a massive loss.. The shock he received was so great, that he even forgot to feel the pain from losing one of his massive golden wings.