The salary of a sparring partner in the dojo was daily, because sparring partners were the most likely to get injured. Part of the income had to be used to buy medicine or timely treatment. Therefore, once the sparring partner finished their work, the dojo would pay them on the same day.
The finance department was next to the human resources department. The hologram on the desk had been unfolded, and it listed the income of Ding Meng accompanying Qu Xiaoqing for this afternoon's practice:
Time: 3 hours and 12 minutes. Appearance fee: 160. Membership fee: 340. Additional service fee: 500.
Total remuneration: 1000.
It was easy to understand the appearance fee and membership fee, but he did not know what the additional service fee was. Fortunately, Hu Qi had already explained with a wink, "This is the tip from Miss Qu. Brother Ding, seize the opportunity."
"Take advantage of what opportunity?" Ding Meng did not understand.
Hu Qi explained, "Miss Qu is a member of the Qu Family in Autumn Ze City. If you practice with her and she is satisfied, she will help you in the future and you will be rich."
"Oh." Ding Meng's reaction was very cold.
Hu Qi said, "Brother Ding, don't you have the identity of an interstellar refugee? If Miss Qu is willing to help, your citizenship is very easy to solve."
This could be done. Ding Meng thought that not having an imperial citizenship was sometimes really troublesome. Take the 1000 tokens for example. Under normal circumstances, they should be exchanged for 10 Star Coins, but he did not have a wristband, so he could not exchange them at all. He could only use the heavy backpack of the dojo and carry it on his back like a rag-picker.
In any case, this money came quite easily. Thinking about how Old Yu had to toil in the fields for two months to earn 1000 tokens, Ding Meng was able to easily earn it in an afternoon. This undoubtedly made Ding Meng very happy. This trip to Verdant Tarn Town was not in vain.
It was already evening when he walked out of the dojo. The lights of the town were also lit up. The colorful billboards on the roadside, the vehicles shuttling back and forth on the streets, the bustling flow of people, and the various kinds of building lights were all reflected in Ding Meng's eyes. They were all very cute and very warm.
However, none of this piqued his interest. Currently, the only place he could go for a stroll was the business center opposite the dojo. Simply put, this place was a convenience store that specialized in providing daily necessities. Nutrient fluids were undoubtedly a mainstream product.
The interior of the business center was divided into several purchasing areas, each of which had electronic labels: consumable area, amplifier area, medicine area, food area, beverage area, tool area, material area …
Rows of shelves in the consumables area were neatly arranged with all kinds of mixtures. There were also low polymerization, medium polymerization, high polymerization, special polymerization, and many other categories to meet the needs of different people. No matter how detailed these nutrient solutions were, they all had one thing in common. They were all produced by Autumn Pool City's Anvil Company.
Ding Meng observed for a while. The 500 + deca nutrient solution that Old Yu gave him before was only a mixture with low polymerization energy and was sold for 33 tokens each. On the other hand, the 1300 + deca premium product that Qu Xiaoqing gave him was a product with high polymerization energy and was sold for 100 tokens each.
Forget it, it was still more cost-effective to buy the lower grade product. After buying 30 nutrient solutions in one go, the 1000 tokens that he had received in the afternoon had basically been spent.
Sigh, money came easily but left quickly. Ding Meng couldn't help but sigh. Moreover, with his own Origin Energy consumption and cultivation speed, these 30 nutrient solutions would probably be completed in a single night.
He could roughly remember the structure of the fourth origin. The only thing he lacked now was the nutrient solution. From another perspective, as long as the nutrients in his body could keep up, the construction speed would only be faster and not slower.
"Ding Meng, let's go to the nearby park to cultivate," Little Rascal suggested.
"This is a town, and there are too many people passing by. If you meditate, you'll be too conspicuous. To avoid unnecessary trouble, it's better for you to find a place to lie down and meditate. In any case, with the K-virus, you don't need the induction cabin."
Ding Meng also felt that this made sense. When he was in Black Gold Base, he didn't have a deep enough understanding of the value of the K-virus. Now that he was in a normal society, he finally realized how heaven-defying it was to be able to directly absorb Origin Energy and cultivate without the help of the induction cabin.
However, before he constructed the fourth origin, Ding Meng first observed the battle between him and Qu Xiaoqing in the space of his consciousness.
Little Rascal's Level 1 authority could also create another phantom — Qu Xiaoqing's phantom. As long as Ding Meng fought with her, Little Rascal's memory function could record the opponent's data for Ding Meng's reference.
Ordinary people relied on their brains to recall the battle. Obviously, it wasn't as direct, clear, and realistic as Little Rascal's AI program. This was because in the space of his consciousness, the two phantoms were fighting each other. Not only could Ding Meng clearly see Qu Xiaoqing's various attack patterns, he could also discover his own shortcomings in dealing with them.
Currently, he knew which nine forms of the 《Nine Forms of Sparrow Attack》. He just couldn't name them. In general, this martial arts technique mainly focused on close-quarters combat and fierce attacks. It also had good continuity and coordination, and the various movements seemed to be more suitable for women.
In the space of his consciousness, the phantom's left foot stomped on the wall, bounced back, and swept its right foot through the air … Ding Meng suddenly asked, "Little Rascal, what's this One-Inch Punch you were talking about?"
Little Rascal explained, "Actually, One-Inch Punch is a type of explosive force. In close-quarters combat, you first stack up your strength with continuous movements and circulate your strength to a level where you can freely control it. Then, you contract your muscles and cause the Origin Energy in your body to rebound, instantly releasing an external force. In layman's terms, it's a powerful martial arts technique. It's very difficult for opponents to guard against it. You've experienced it before, right? Your opponent can use it at any time. You have no idea when she'll use it."
Ding Meng's expression became thoughtful.
Little Rascal said, "If you want to break this technique, there are two ways."
Ding Meng's eyes lit up. "Which two?"
Little Rascal said, "The first is the traditional method. You have to strengthen your body and train yourself to the point where you're impervious to fire and water and invulnerable to blades and spears. No matter what kind of force she uses, she won't be able to hurt you."
Ding Meng nodded. "That's something that I have to train in."
Little Rascal continued, "The other method is for you to learn it as well. Only when you learn it will you be able to sense the signs of her eruption. I know that it's very difficult to explain this with data, but only by accumulating a large amount of combat experience will you be able to understand it."
Little Rascal suddenly sighed. "Actually, this Qu Xiaoqing really isn't simple. Think about it. She's an Origin Energy user who has tempered her system. Logically speaking, her resistance should be very strong, but instead, she has a lot of attack patterns. Her speed and strength aren't weak either. The most important thing is that she can actually use One-Inch Punch. As far as I know, explosive force techniques are most suited for thermodynamics users, but she just happened to learn it."
Ding Meng said, "So you're saying that she's an expert in both thermodynamics and body tempering?"
"That's not wrong."
Seeing his serious expression, Little Rascal hurriedly explained, "Ding Meng, actually, you're the same. With your current resistance, even if Qu Xiaoqing used all her Origin Energy to attack you, three of her wouldn't be able to hurt you."
"That's not true."
Ding Meng's expression became even more serious. "Even a small town on a border planet of the Norse Empire has such a talent. Who knows how many more powerful experts there are in other cities? You can't afford to be arrogant and neglect her."
"Correct!"
Little Rascal immediately became serious. "Ding Meng, you have to work hard. The martial technique you're going to train in is also related to explosive force."
"Oh?" Ding Meng's eyes lit up. "What kind of martial technique is it?"
"Hmph, I won't tell you the name for now, lest you rush for success," Little Rascal explained.
"If you want to learn it, you'll have to first construct the fourth origin before you're qualified to learn it."