Time flies by unnoticed when you're working. Shen Xingyan, engrossed in his work in the wheat field, didn't notice that his time in the Star Source world was coming to an end. By this point, the frequency of prompts from the Star Source had noticeably decreased.
Seeing this, a panting Shen Xingyan let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that after he left the Star Source world, Wangcai and the other skeletons would be able to handle the remaining work without any problems.
After eating a couple of buns to restore his energy, he bought a small straw hat for Wangcai from the Star Source store as a reward and put it on the skeleton's head.
After all, Wangcai had been appointed his captain, and he needed to look different from the other skeletons to emphasize his authority as a leader.
Although Shen Xingyan didn't know if this approach would work on skeletons, he enjoyed managing the little skeletons using human logic.
Noticing that the Star Source had started a countdown, reminding him of his imminent departure, Shen Xingyan gave Wangcai his final instructions and pressed the "exit" button, returning to the real world.
No sooner had he returned to reality than Shen Xingyan felt his stomach begin to loudly protest, making rumbling sounds.
Checking his star card, he saw that his stamina had dropped to 6 points. In a few more hours, he would reach a state of weakness. Shen Xingyan hurried to the kitchen to quickly cook something to eat and satisfy his hunger.
The last time he had returned to the real world, he had been in such a hurry to get back to tending the wheat field after cooking for his sister that he had forgotten to eat himself. Now he was so hungry that stars were flashing before his eyes.
Only after eating a little did he feel that unpleasant sensation gradually disappear.
Despite his mental fatigue, Shen Xingyan was preparing breakfast for himself and his sister when her room door opened, and Shen Xingying, rubbing her sleepy eyes, said,
"Brother, you're finally out."
Focused on his cooking, Shen Xingyan flinched at the unexpected sound behind him. In this area, located close to the outer border, danger could arise at any moment.
If an unidentified sound was heard nearby, the first rule of survival was to hide and wait for help! It was for such emergencies that Shen Xingyan's parents had dug a special basement bunker in the house.
Turning around in a panic and seeing his sister, Shen Xingyan asked with relief,
"Why are you awake? Did my noise wake you?"
"No, I was barely asleep. I was waiting for you. Here, this is for you," Shen Xingying said, handing him a card.
Taking the card mechanically, Shen Xingyan recognized the familiar symbol of the Star Source and remembered that it was a temporary reward card. It cost a hundred copper coins to manufacture and was used for temporary storage of star coins.
Before, when he received rewards for participating in school competitions, the manufacturing cost of a hundred copper coins was usually converted into the corresponding resources, so he didn't quite understand what the card itself was.
His sister's words confirmed his guess:
"I got first place in the school competition today! This is the reward—there are 2000 copper coins in it!"
As she spoke, Shen Xingying's sleepy face lit up with a proud smile, and she quietly added, "Now I can earn money for the family, too!"
Shen Xingyan, moved by his sister's actions, stroked her head and said softly, "Yes, our little sister has grown up!" He then patted her on the shoulder in encouragement.
Since his sister was already awake, Shen Xingyan decided he would eat and then sleep.
Soon, breakfast was ready, and the brother and sister ate it in the nighttime silence, filled with hope and happiness.
After the meal, sleepiness overcame them both, and after a quick cleanup, they went to their respective rooms and fell into a deep sleep. The surprises from the Star Source world today brought an unwitting smile to Shen Xingyan's face.
When Shen Xingyan woke up on his own, he discovered it was already almost noon.
The sleep had been so deep that neither his biological clock nor his alarm clock had worked.
However, a full night's rest not only completely restored his mental strength but also allowed his body to fully recover.
The feeling of being refreshed was so pleasant that he didn't even want to get out of bed.
This was a normal state for most professionals. With the emergence of the Star Source world, even those with the lowest professions didn't need to worry about basic survival—it was enough to perform work in the virtual world to live a carefree life.
Domestic professionals usually didn't fight, so they saw no reason to train in reality.
Combat specialists developed much more effectively in the Star Source world, which led them not to spend energy in the real world. Even in their free time, they preferred to recover their strength rather than train.
But Shen Xingyan was a farmer with ambitions—his goal was to venture beyond the base and fight the Blight. How could he allow himself to degrade?
Gathering his resolve, Shen Xingyan began his daily training.
It was unclear if this was the result of a full night's rest or if his accumulated training had finally led to a qualitative leap, but today after his exercises, he clearly felt something new.
He hurried to take out his star map to check his real-world stats and saw that his Constitution, previously at 11 points, was now displayed as 12.
As expected, training in reality really does work if you persevere. Although the progress gets harder and harder each time, there is still hope! Looking at his hard-earned attribute point, Shen Xingyan couldn't hide his smile.
In about a week, he had gained two attribute points from his real-world training.
Two attribute points in reality were equivalent to 20 gold coins plus 2 attribute points in the Star Source world. From this perspective, Shen Xingyan's training in reality brought far more value than the harvest from his fields.
But he knew that such a comparison was flawed. One was a long-term benefit, the other a daily cumulative profit, and they couldn't be compared directly.
His two powerful skills guaranteed that his growth would be faster and faster the further he progressed, while training in reality became less and less effective. In the long run, the former significantly surpassed the latter.
It was only thanks to the help of the little skeletons in tilling the land that Shen Xingyan had the strength and time to train in reality. Other farmers not only didn't train but even avoided any strenuous physical activity.
Calming his excited heart, Shen Xingyan ate a little, then took out his star map and entered the Star Source world.