Time marched on relentlessly, waiting for no one. Two days passed, and it was now the 6th day after the wheat was planted—harvest day for Shen Xingyan.
On the fourth day, with the appearance of a fourth skeleton, the care of the wheat plot practically no longer required Shen Xingyan's participation. The four skeletons handled the work completely. This gave him a lot of free time, allowing him to rethink his daily routine.
Over the course of the fourth and fifth days, he logged into his professional space only to use his innate and professional skills, after which he would lie down and sleep. After sleeping for seven hours in the Star Source world and fully restoring his mental strength, Shen Xingyan would return to the real world, where he trained his body.
Inspired by his recent stat increase, he approached his real-world training with particular enthusiasm—it was the only way he could get stronger at the moment. Without accumulated resources, even if his professional level were to increase and he received additional stat points, he still wouldn't have the means to transfer these improvements from the Star Source world to reality. At least, at this stage, it was impossible.
Over the two days of training, Shen Xingyan's stats hadn't changed, unlike what happened on the third day. His Constitution remained at 11 points, and his other stats didn't move either. Apparently, the previous increase was a result of his accumulated potential before the Awakening.
Although this result was a little disappointing for Shen Xingyan, he didn't give up on his training. After each session, he felt a faint but definite increase in his physical capabilities. This feeling couldn't deceive him—even if it wasn't yet reflected in the numbers, a noticeable result was bound to appear over time.
However, one problem was beginning to bother Shen Xingyan: due to the increase in training time, his food consumption also went up, and his food supplies were running out. Looking at the meager remains in the kitchen, he truly understood the saying, "a penny saved is a penny earned."
Fortunately, today was harvest day. Judging by yesterday's observations, the wheat ears were so full that without strong stalks, they would have simply collapsed to the ground.
Shen Xingyan eagerly awaited the harvest from this plot, thinking about it even while sleeping and training. Seeing that there were only a few minutes left until the harvest, he quickly finished the last remnants of food in the kitchen and hurried to his room to connect to his Star Card and enter the Star Source world.
When Shen Xingyan opened his eyes again, he found himself in his familiar professional space. His gaze instinctively went to the golden wheat field before him. The sight of the bounty would astonish anyone—this field was completely unlike ordinary wheat fields, surpassing them by an order of magnitude. If other farmers were to compare their fields to this one, all they could do was cry with envy.
With Shen Xingyan's appearance, six small skeletons gathered around him. Captain Wangcai stood the closest, while the other five skeletons stayed a little behind.
Since the cooldown for his innate and professional skills had not yet expired, Shen Xingyan didn't use them as usual. Instead, he gently stroked Wangcai's skull, patiently waiting for the signal that the wheat was ripe.
As the moment drew near, an impatient Shen Xingyan walked closer to check the state of the wheat. The Star Source world didn't make him wait long—as soon as the field officially entered its maturity stage, a notification sounded in Shen Xingyan's ears:
[Congratulations! Your first harvest has ripened. Reward: one sickle. Please harvest your crops quickly. The Star Source will reward you with experience according to the total volume of the harvest.]
To Shen Xingyan, this mechanical voice sounded like heavenly music. He straightened up abruptly and noticed an icon above the field indicating the possibility of a harvest.
"It's finally here!" Shen Xingyan exclaimed, clenching his fists in excitement.
Looking at the flickering icon, which seemed to be tempting him to get to work as soon as possible, he mentally retrieved the sickle, a gift from the Star Source, from his inventory and checked its stats:
Item: Sickle
Properties: Attack +1
No level requirements, no durability limits. An indispensable tool for farmers.
The sickle's stats were identical to the hoe he had received earlier, differing only in shape. Both items were so durable they could be passed down for generations.
Shen Xingyan was about to begin harvesting but suddenly remembered his loyal helpers. Looking around, he saw that the skeletons were looking at him, shaking their skulls in confusion—they didn't know how to react to this new icon, which didn't fit their previous instructions.
Shen Xingyan slapped himself on the forehead, realizing that the harvest icon had appeared for the first time, and even Wangcai didn't know what to do with it, not to mention the other skeletons.
Looking at the five little skeletons before him and holding only one sickle, Shen Xingyan wanted to give each of them a tool, but his financial situation wouldn't allow it. Sickles were sold in the Star Source store, but the cheapest one cost 10 copper coins—a sum currently beyond Shen Xingyan's reach.
In the end, he had to instruct the skeletons to simply pull the wheat out by hand and pile it in one place so he could process it later. Although this method wasn't very efficient, there was no other choice.
However, one feature of the Star Source world turned out to be very convenient for Shen Xingyan: unlike in the real world, there was no need to additionally grind the harvested wheat. It was enough to mentally move the harvest into his inventory, and it would be automatically sorted according to Shen Xingyan's wishes. For example, wheat was separated into grain and straw—a function extremely useful for farmers, saving them a great deal of time!