Ding Meng didn't fall asleep that night. He had actually stayed in the hibernation pod for almost eight days, so his brain wasn't that tired. Plus, Origin Ability users didn't need a lot of sleep.
After swallowing a nutrient solution, Ding Meng sat cross-legged on his bed and directly entered a meditative state. The Origin Energy on planet T112 was obviously not as dense as on the domed planet. Little Rascal's explanation was, "The closer you are to Lieyang, the more Origin Energy there is. This is because the origin of the universe began from the Big Bang."
The Origin Energy in his body was abundant, so he didn't need to consume too much. However, Ding Meng still couldn't control his curiosity and asked Little Rascal to open up the human figure in his consciousness space. The fourth origin was still in his heart, but it was actually behind his right atrium. After careful observation, Ding Meng felt that the Diamond Star Technique wasn't something that just anyone could cultivate.
It could be said that the complexity and quantity of the fourth origin was even greater than the previous three combined. At a rough estimate, it was at least 1.5 times more complex than the previous three.
"But the fourth origin is the most important step." Little Rascal became very serious when it came to cultivation. "Do you still remember Julie?"
Of course he did. Julie was Ding Meng's first real opponent because Julie was an Origin Ability user, not a normal person like the Leopard Machine Gun.
Ding Meng naturally had a deep impression of that battle, especially when Julie's Annihilation of Ice Palm created a bubble of blue energy at the end. It had directly imprisoned him in place, unable to move.
Little Rascal very directly explained, "The Thermal and Ice Elements compete in brute force. If you had successfully constructed the fourth origin, her Three Layered Waves wouldn't have been able to freeze you to the point of being unable to move. If you had been able to dodge, her ultimate move would have missed. You wouldn't have had to endure it at all. Think about it, if that had been the case, it wouldn't have been so difficult to deal with her …"
She was indeed Ding Meng's little friend. She knew what Ding Meng was most interested in. Therefore, when Ding Meng heard her words, he began to calm down and observe.
If one could describe it, the internal structure of the fourth origin was like a palace sand table. In this palace, not only did one have to remember its overall shape, every hall, every garden, every step, and even every corner had to be clearly remembered.
It was just like an architect. You had to consider every detail, not the first three points. You were just an artist. You just had to follow the virtual image and draw the gourd.
This time, the progress of his cultivation was indeed very slow. Ding Meng gave up after only building one-tenth of it. There was no other reason than that he was hungry again.
"Sigh, according to the standards of the Norse Empire, you can be considered an intermediate origin ability user now." Little Rascal sighed helplessly. "Consumption is a big problem."
Ding Meng expressed his agreement. Origin ability users consumed a lot of energy in the first place, and he himself was the one who consumed the most. After just a short while, he already felt like he couldn't concentrate.
Little Rascal said, "Ding Meng, I've done some calculations. According to your current cultivation progress, you'll need at least 100 hours of time, at least 30 vials of nutrient solution, and at the same time, complete the construction in one go. Only then will you be considered to have passed."
Ding Meng now understood this principle. The reason why he needed to complete the construction in one go was because the human brain's memory wasn't perfect. It was normal for people to forget about the earlier parts after looking at the latter parts. If he continued to observe while constructing, the number of times he was interrupted would increase, and the effect wouldn't be as perfect as it was in one go. In the end, he would still need to continuously strengthen the construction in order to consolidate the effect. This was a very time-consuming process.
Wasting time was an unwise thing to do, regardless of whether it was an origin ability user or a normal human.
Ding Meng said, "Forget it. Before I have enough supplies and time, I'll just focus on strengthening the first three points. At the very least, it's not a bad idea to strengthen my physique. At the very least, I'll be able to cultivate for a short period of time every day."
Little Rascal also expressed his agreement. "It looks like that's the only thing we can do for now. Ding Meng, let's go get some supplies first. Let's see if there's anyone else nearby so we can steal some."
Ding Meng said helplessly, "This isn't Black Gold Base. This is the Norse Empire. That citizen official said that I'm a refugee, so I have to follow the rules. Little Rascal, don't even think about killing or robbing."
Little Rascal sighed. "Then we'll do as the citizen official said. Let's farm and get some money first. Let's go find that old man Yu for help."
It was already noon the next day. Ding Meng crawled out of the wooden hut and immediately scanned the surroundings with his telekinetic vision. He discovered that Old Yu wasn't home at all.
A light, refreshing drizzle continued to fall from the overcast sky. Ding Meng found Old Yu in a golden paddy field upstream of a small stream. Old Yu was currently harvesting wheat with a worn-out sickle. His stooped body was clearly strained. After all, he was a man of his age.
"Old Yu, why don't you buy a robot to help you harvest?"
Ding Meng expressed his confusion. He casually fiddled with the wheat. "This is wheat used to make rhubarb wine. The straw is too thick, so harvesting it by hand is very slow."
Old Yu seemed to be happy when he saw Ding Meng. "Ha, Little Ding, you've done farm work before?"
Ding Meng shrugged. "I know a bit. I saw this kind of wheat when I was a kid herding cows. It's considered a high-grade crop."
Little Rascal expressed his suspicion when he heard this. "Herding cows?
You're bragging, aren't you? "
Old Yu sighed. "Robots are quite expensive. The cheapest one costs more than three thousand tokens, and you'll have to go to Autumn Pool City to buy one. Isn't it better to save this money?"
The currency circulating in the Norse Empire was called tokens. It was a low-content gold coin that was generally used in small places below the city-state level. One hundred tokens could be exchanged for one galactic coin. Galactic coins were the mainstream virtual currency.
Ding Meng suddenly remembered that he didn't even see a transport cart in Old Yu's yard. It was probably because the old man was used to being thrifty and did everything himself.
He looked at the paddy field again. It was estimated to be two to three thousand square meters, and less than a fifth of it had been harvested. Ding Meng couldn't help but ask, "You harvested this field this morning?"
Old Yu nodded. "I plan to finish harvesting it in three days. It's barley season now, so the merchants will be coming here the day after tomorrow."
Ding Meng thought that at this rate, it would take more than a week to finish harvesting it. "Forget it, Old Yu. I'll help you harvest it."
Old Yu immediately became happy. "That's great. Little Ding, wait here. I'll go find you a knife."
"No need. I have a knife." Ding Meng flicked his wrist, and the dark golden T-shaped knife flipped into his palm.
Old Yu's eyes widened. "You can harvest wheat with a knife like that?"
Ding Meng didn't answer at all, because he had already rushed out like a shuttle car. Old Yu couldn't see his movements clearly at all. All he could see was the countless straw and wheat stalks in the rice field in front of him shooting up into the sky, flying all over the sky at a speed that made one speechless.
About ten minutes later, Ding Meng rushed back. All the stalks in his path fell to the ground, forming a new golden path.
"You …" Old Yu's eyes widened. "Little Ding, are you … an Origin Ability user …?"
Crap. Ding Meng cursed inwardly. He must have gone too far. However, he still pretended to catch his breath. "No, I used to harvest wheat when I was young. I can run, so I'm fast."
"But your knife …" Old Yu still couldn't believe it.
Ding Meng hurriedly explained, "This is a treasured knife passed down in my family. It's very sharp and can even cut meat …"
Hearing this, Little Rascal gritted her teeth in anger. "Liar Ding Meng, you really know how to lie. Someone gave it to you, but you said it was a family heirloom. You bastard."
Ding Meng couldn't be bothered with her. "Old Yu, what do you think?"
Old Yu's mouth fell open. He stood there in a daze, unable to say a word. Ding Meng's work in ten minutes was equivalent to his three hours of work. What could he say?
That afternoon, Ding Meng helped Old Yu with his work in the paddy fields. The wheat in the fields was quickly harvested. Ding Meng even took the initiative to help Old Yu tie up the wheat and move it to the yard.
It wasn't that he was being kind. Rather, he felt that he had to do something to repay the three nutrient solutions that Old Yu had given him.
However, Old Yu couldn't stop smiling at Ding Meng's efficiency. He even took the initiative to invite Ding Meng to have dinner together.
"Dinner?"
Ding Meng began to have doubts again. In the past half a year, he had only eaten a real meal on the Swordfish spaceship — steak.
"Yes, dinner. Dinner that we made ourselves," Old Yu explained with a smile. "Because Little Man is coming back tonight."