The illusory clothes on Shen Xingyan's body began to slowly vanish—the privilege granted to Star Source newcomers was about to expire. So that rookies didn't end up as unwitting exhibitionists, the Star Source gave them some time to wear illusory clothing, allowing them to get used to the world's functions without drawing undue attention.
Noticing these changes, Shen Xingyan hurried to put on the rookie set from his inventory so that the Star Source wouldn't consider him a nudist. The three items occupied the weapon, upper body, and lower body slots in his equipment. Only one item could be placed in each slot, with no possibility of layering.
Seeing only these three lonely items in his huge inventory, Shen Xingyan quickly closed the equipment window to avoid getting even more upset.
Dressed in the rookie set, Shen Xingyan immediately looked like a real farmer. After a quick once-over, he nodded with satisfaction, generally pleased with his appearance. The only drawback was the lack of footwear—his bare feet were planted directly on the ground, which was unusual for someone who always wore shoes. But remembering that ancient peasants often worked barefoot in the fields, he decided not to make a big deal out of it.
Shen Xingyan picked up the hoe and, looking at the plot of land in front of him, was about to start sowing wheat when he suddenly remembered his innate talent: summoning a skeleton with stats equal to one for combat. His mind immediately lit up. Since the summoned skeleton couldn't participate in real battles due to its low stats, maybe it could help with farming? After all, if you approached the matter creatively, tilling the land could also be considered a kind of "combat" for a farmer!
If this worked, his work efficiency would increase significantly. With this thought, Shen Xingyan mentally activated his "Summon Skeleton" skill. His lips automatically began to utter strange sounds, the meaning of which he didn't understand.
As he chanted, the ground in front of him began to tremble slightly, and a white skull gradually emerged from the soil. Any uninitiated person who saw this would surely recoil in horror. But Shen Xingyan wasn't surprised—he had expected something similar, although this method of appearance seemed rather "down-to-earth" to him.
Shen Xingyan continued to chant, and the skeleton gradually emerged in its entirety. When the chanting was over, a fully formed skeleton stood before him. Seeing how small it was, Shen Xingyan involuntarily slapped his forehead—he hadn't expected the skeleton to be so miniature.
The skeleton was the size of a six- or seven-year-old child—a true "child laborer" among skeletons. Moreover, its bones had no shine and were heavily damaged in places, as if they were about to crumble.
Seeing this, Shen Xingyan sighed inwardly: if he took such a skeleton to the battlefield, it would be laughed to death before it even met a Catastrophe.
Shaking his head, Shen Xingyan still checked the skeleton's basic stats:
Name: Little Skeleton (can be renamed)
Master: Shen Xingyan
Race: Undead
Skills: None
Strength: 1 point
Agility: 1 point
Constitution: 1 point
Spirit: 1 point
Health: 10/10 points (recovers 1 point every 10 hours)
Physical Attack: 1 point
Magical Attack: 1 point
Defense: 1 point
Speed: 1 point
Note: Can perform various combat actions as instructed by the summoner.
Looking at the stats, all of which were a single point, Shen Xingyan felt disappointed, even though he was prepared for it. With such numbers, to ask it to perform combat actions... it seemed the creators of this note didn't understand what it meant to have all stats equal to one.
After a moment of lamenting, Shen Xingyan gathered his thoughts, took the bag of seeds from his inventory, and, with the hoe on his shoulder, headed for the field. Looking back at the little skeleton, who was still standing motionless, he mentally ordered it to follow him. This ability to control the skeleton came to him naturally, as soon as he had summoned it.
The skeleton, receiving the command, followed Shen Xingyan without hesitation, though it moved somewhat slowly, which was typical for skeletons.
Upon reaching the field, Shen Xingyan dug a small hole with the hoe, showing the skeleton to remember his actions, then placed one seed in it. After the skeleton had observed these movements, Shen Xingyan handed it all the seeds and began to dig a second hole, showing the skeleton to put a seed in it.
The skeleton froze for a moment, and Shen Xingyan already thought his idea wouldn't work. He was about to take the bag of seeds back and continue to sow by himself. But at that moment, the skeleton suddenly came to life. With a precise movement of its bony fingers, it took one seed and, imitating Shen Xingyan's actions, dropped it into the hole.
Seeing that the skeleton's movements, though clumsy, were generally fluid, Shen Xingyan couldn't help but let out a cry of joy.
"Now that there are two of us... no, two laborers working the land together, the efficiency will be incomparably higher than if I worked alone. Not only will it be easier for me, but there will be more time for cultivation. I can engage in precision farming and significantly increase this plot's yield! It looks like my innate skill is actually quite useful after all, not as useless as I thought!"
Shen Xingyan was inwardly jubilant. While this improvement might seem insignificant to people with abundant resources, for Shen Xingyan, who was at the bottom and had his own goals, even a small bit of progress was a cause for celebration.
Inspired, Shen Xingyan began working in tandem with the little skeleton, gradually sowing the entire field. A task that would have taken him alone two to three hours was completed in just over an hour with the skeleton's help—efficiency had increased significantly.
[Congratulations on completing your first sowing! Reward: one well. Please choose a location for it.]
This reward was also expected by Shen Xingyan. Looking around, he decided to place the well in the center of the field for easy watering in the future.