Shen Xingyan stared at the little skeleton, who had been with him all of yesterday, and, lowering his hoe, said in surprise: "How are you still here?"
His astonishment was so great that he didn't even try to hide it. A wave of joyous excitement washed over him, causing a slight dizziness.
The little skeleton stood still, only slightly tilting its skull as if expressing confusion: "And why should I have disappeared?"
He had just been faithfully carrying out his master's order, weeding the wheat field according to the Star Source prompts, which was why Shen Xingyan hadn't noticed him immediately. Sensing his master's presence, the skeleton slowly walked over to him.
Fortunately, the skeleton had no emotions. Otherwise, after so many hours of hard work, hearing its master ask, "Why haven't you disappeared yet?" could have caused it deep psychological trauma.
Gradually calming down, Shen Xingyan's gaze shifted from the little skeleton to the single field maintenance task icon, and it dawned on him:
"So that's why the Star Source didn't punish me for delaying the tasks! The little skeleton was doing all the farming work according to the prompts the whole time. Now it all makes sense."
Realizing this, Shen Xingyan joyfully squatted down and gently patted the skeleton's head, admiring its diligence. Although he didn't understand why the skeleton hadn't disappeared as expected, the result was more than satisfactory.
Thanks to the skeleton's constant work in his absence, the yield from this one mu of wheat should reach incredible levels. After all, no one else could tend to their crops while logged out. The little skeleton made Shen Xingyan unique in this regard.
While the skeleton's efficiency would decrease with larger fields, and it wouldn't be able to keep all the plots in such perfect condition as it was now, for the time being, this gave Shen Xingyan a huge advantage over others.
Stroking the skeleton's skull, Shen Xingyan looked as if he had found a real treasure. Just yesterday, he thought that summoning a new skeleton every day would be a hassle. After all, each new helper would have to be taught farming from scratch. But now that the skeleton hadn't disappeared, this problem solved itself.
"Well done, little guy! I didn't expect you to be so capable. You're simply wonderful!" Shen Xingyan said admiringly, gently cupping the skeleton's skull and swaying it slightly.
Looking at the skeleton, who seemed a bit bewildered by the praise but also incredibly cute, Shen Xingyan continued: "You didn't disappear after 24 hours, which means I misunderstood the cooldown time. Skeletons don't disappear after a day! And I really like this mistake! Now we're long-term partners, so I should give you a name. I can't just keep calling you 'little skeleton' all the time."
After a little thought, Shen Xingyan joyfully exclaimed:
"From now on, your name will be Wangcai ('Bringing Wealth')! You're so hardworking and you bring wealth. This name is very symbolic!"
Shen Xingyan opened the skeleton's stats and changed the name line:
Name: Wangcai (can be changed)
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.
Now, looking at the skeleton's single-point stats, Shen Xingyan no longer felt disappointed. With a work ethic like Wangcai's, the numerical values didn't matter much.
Shen Xingyan didn't notice that after he gave it a name, the skeleton's body trembled barely perceptibly, as if something had entered it, and then everything returned to its previous state.
Delighted, Shen Xingyan stood up, getting ready to start today's "combat work" with Wangcai. Despite the pleasant excitement from his recent discovery, agricultural matters still required attention.
The prematurely matured Shen Xingyan understood well that the path to success is made of small steps. Even with outstanding abilities, you can't stand still—any talent without development becomes useless.
Just as Shen Xingyan was about to step into the wheat field with the hoe on his shoulder, a sudden thought struck him. He froze in place, quickly opened his stats panel, and fixed his gaze on his innate talent:
Talent: Summon Skeleton—summons a skeleton monster with all stats equal to 1 for combat (cooldown: 24 hours).
Seeing that the skill had no cooldown timer, Shen Xingyan felt his suspicion confirmed. His face contorted with shock:
If the cooldown for my innate talent is 24 hours, and Wangcai is still here, doesn't that mean I can use the skill again and summon another skeleton to help me?
The thought made Shen Xingyan instinctively plunge his hoe into the ground. His body began to tremble slightly, his hands shaking uncontrollably. It was a good thing the hoe served as a brace, or he probably would have collapsed to the ground.
This state continued for some time; even Wangcai noticed his master's strange behavior and tilted its head to look at him.
Shen Xingyan, his thoughts in complete disarray, took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. His gaze was fixed on the innate talent line.
Finally, gathering all his willpower to control his emotions, he impatiently said:
"Use innate talent: Summon Skeleton!"
As soon as the skill was activated, strange incantation sounds flowed from Shen Xingyan's mouth.
An unusual aura filled the surrounding space, and soon the ground in front of Shen Xingyan began to stir. Just like during the first summoning of Wangcai, a white skull slowly emerged from the soil.
When the incantation ended, a second little skeleton appeared before Shen Xingyan, indistinguishable from Wangcai.
Looking at the identical skeleton, Shen Xingyan stood frozen in place, clearly stunned by the result.