An Experiment, a Win-Win!

Before today, if anyone had asked Ajie whether he could be beaten senseless by a college student who had never received any martial arts training

and had never learned any combat skills,

Ajie would have responded with a dismissive chuckle and wouldn't even have bothered to answer.

What a joke! He'd graduated from Denuo Military Academy, commanded countless decapitation strikes, and served as the supreme commander of the Super Soldiers of the Deno Star System.

He had thousands of years of experience and had fought hundreds of battles, big and small! And you were asking him something like that?

Did you look down on his brilliant mind

or his strong body?

Seriously, you thought a college student could beat him senseless? Were you kidding?

Take it back, and he'd let you off without laughing at you.

...With both arms raised in front of his face to protect his handsome features, Ajie was now overwhelmed with thoughts as Ge Xiaolun pummeled him with a barrage of punches.

He had never imagined he'd stumble at the last hurdle and give Ge Xiaolun the chance to beat him up.

When the first punch landed, accompanied by an electric shock, Ajie had still tried to fight back. But the moment the current spread throughout his body,

he knew he was going to have to take this beating—and that he could only endure it passively.

And when the owner of those fists straddled him, attacking him with both words and fists, Ajie realized this beating wasn't going to be a light one.

Because the person beating him was Ge Xiaolun.

"Did you really think college students were easy to fool?"

"Did you really think I was some sucker?"

"If you want me to defend the country, just say so! Why did you have to trick me?"

"Did you have to treat me like some pervert with nothing but dirty thoughts on his mind? Huh?!"

"You knew I was naive! How could you do this to me? Don't you have a conscience?"

A string of furious shouts, a flurry of heavy punches.

To be honest, Ge Xiaolun wasn't hitting that hard. He aimed his wild punches at Ajie's arms and other fleshy areas.

He didn't even touch the places where he could have dealt Ajie a truly critical blow. The kid was still too innocent.

Though Ge Xiaolun shouted loudly, what really affected Ajie was the current coiling around his fists.

Its intensity fluctuated with Ge Xiaolun's emotions, giving Ajie a pain and tingling sensation he couldn't quite describe.

Yet, for some reason, despite that sensation, Ajie's mind remained clear.

He was at a loss for words. All he could do was let out louder or softer screams as the current's intensity changed.

If an outsider had witnessed the two of them right then,

they would have seen a pale purple ring of light behind Ge Xiaolun. At its center, a lightning eye glowed a brilliant violet.

Unlike the current flickering in and out along Ge Xiaolun's arms, the deep purple lightning eye shone steadily, like a divine eye silently watching everything before it.

Meanwhile, as Ge Xiaolun and Ajie were enjoying their little bonding session, Rose, Ashe, and Lena were sitting together in Rose's dorm room,

watching the screen before them and taking in the whole scene.

"Hahaha! This is killing me! Ajie totally brought this on himself!"

"That's what he gets for running his mouth and tricking people all day!"

Sitting to Ashe's right, Lena clutched her stomach with laughter, one hand resting on Ashe's shoulder.

Every time she heard Ajie scream, Lena laughed even harder, content to sit back and enjoy the show.

To Ashe's left, Rose sat with her arms crossed over her chest, watching the screen coldly, as if she had no interest in what was happening.

But the slight upward curve of her lips showed that she was in a pretty good mood.

As for Ashe, she was watching more intently than anyone.

Well, don't get the wrong idea. Ashe wasn't interested in watching men fight.

She was observing how the Evil Demon Eye worked on someone else.

Ge Xiaolun was one of her test subjects. This was preparation for later granting the Evil Demon Eye to Qilin, Rui Mengmeng, and the other girls.

The Evil Demon Eye on Ge Xiaolun had been granted to him indirectly by Ashe through Rose.

In Genshin Impact, when the Raiden Shogun opened her eye and unfolded a corner of the One Mind Realm, all the characters in the same party were granted the Evil Demon Eye and the Wheel of All Wishes and Hundred Eyes.

But there was no such thing as a party in reality. So, after the system's modifications, anyone granted the Evil Demon Eye by Ashe could, with her permission, grant the same authorization to people around them.

It was like forming a party automatically.

The phrase "hand and eye" originally referred to the great powers of a divine being: what they saw was what they could do. The Raiden Shogun could deploy the "Hand and Eye of the Ominous Star," granting protection to her followers and allowing them to act as her agents in dispensing lightning punishment.

Ashe could do the same. Attacks from people she had granted a lightning eye would also be infused with lightning.

Their power wouldn't match Ashe's, but it could reach about twenty percent of the strength of her lightning punishment. Ashe could control that strength, of course. That was what was happening with Ge Xiaolun. Otherwise, considering Ajie's ordinary human body, after getting beaten like this by someone with an awakened eye,

how could he possibly feel only a tingling numbness throughout his body and weakness in his limbs, with nothing more than a bit of pain?

If Ashe hadn't held back, Ajie would already be thinking about choosing his successor.

Right now, Ashe was only a First Generation Super Soldier. Once she completed her later upgrades,

the combat power of those granted a lightning eye would rise accordingly—and only grow stronger.

This would be quite significant for the overall combat strength of Xiong Bing Lian.

Of course, when Ashe granted the Evil Demon Eye to others and they used it to aid them in battle,

she would receive a corresponding boost as well. The most obvious benefits were a faster rate of Dark Energy absorption and access to the other person's field of vision.

That was how Ashe could see what was happening over by Ge Xiaolun.

After all, this was the Super God world. In Genshin Impact, Ashe could rely on Elemental Force to use the Raiden Shogun's abilities, but here, many of those abilities required Dark Energy.

There was a limit to how fast she could absorb it by herself. But if multiple people helped her absorb it indirectly, the rate would be another matter entirely. Who would complain about having more power banks to use, right?

Ashe's Raiden Shogun skills consumed quite a lot of energy, especially Thoughtless Slash, which was an absolute energy hog.

Not to mention the future "Dream of One Slash," the Raiden Shogun puppet, and her full-powered state, Baleful Shadowlord.

It would be a real problem if she ran out of power halfway through using them.

For now, Ashe was quite satisfied with the results of today's experiment.

Ajie had enjoyed a thorough beating from Ge Xiaolun, and she had gotten the data she wanted.

Both sides had gotten what they wanted. Everyone was happy—it was a win-win.

"All right, that's enough. Ge Xiaolun's slowing down. Looks like he's had his fill."

With a snap of her fingers, the Evil Demon Eye behind Ge Xiaolun shut down.

She turned to the two beside her.

Before Ashe could speak, Lena, who had been laughing for a while, spoke first.