Appearing in the cultivation space, Shen Xingyan saw the little skeletons, each occupied with their own work. This calm, natural scene of rural life, combining tranquility and industrious activity, gave him a pleasant sensation.
His arrival, as usual, attracted the attention of Wangcai and the other skeletons.
Under their attentive gazes, Shen Xingyan nodded slightly, letting them know to continue working. He himself went out into the field to check the condition of the crops and identify any potential problems, preparing for the rapid growth that would follow the use of his professional skill.
As he surveyed the field, Shen Xingyan walked over to Wangcai and gently touched the straw hat on his skull, smiling: "My Captain Wangcai, you work so hard, keeping the field in such excellent condition. You truly are my lucky star! It looks like I need to try and get you more subordinates, so you can become a real captain of skeletons!"
Although he knew Wangcai likely didn't understand his words, Shen Xingyan spoke with a gentle smile on his face. He then continued to examine the growth of the surrounding crops.
By this point, the plants in the field had already gone through two 10% increases in growth progress and two days of natural growth. For the wheat, this meant four days of growth, which was two-fifths of the total process. It was now in the ear-formation stage, and its growth looked very promising. As for the potatoes, with their 20-day growth cycle, they had already grown for six days, completing three-tenths of the process. The potato tops looked lush and sprawling, and Shen Xingyan was sure that the root system had already started to form tubers.
What he saw fully satisfied Shen Xingyan. The wheat needed two more days until it ripened, and the potatoes could be harvested in about five days. That would be the moment to test his assumptions.
To beat the Star Source record and get a reward, he had secretly studied information about previous record holders. It turned out that the rewards they received could not be compared at all to his own, with most records being set on fast-growing crops. Records for crops like wheat, with a ten-day growth cycle, were rare.
It seemed the Star Source had its own standard for records. After all, among a multitude of professionals, there would always be someone who tried something new first.
Based on this, Shen Xingyan hypothesized that the longer a crop's growth cycle, the more generous the reward would be for surpassing the standard set by the Star Source and achieving a new record. If this was true, it would be incredibly good news for him! And this hypothesis could be tested in the coming days, which made his heart beat faster with anticipation!
While Shen Xingyan was satisfiedly inspecting the crops, Wangcai, tilting his small skull, glanced at his owner. Seeing that he wasn't giving any new instructions, the skeleton returned to work. Having finished his inspection and seeing that there was still time until his professional skill's cooldown ended, Shen Xingyan began to stroll through the field, like a wealthy landowner inspecting his estate. From time to time, he would approach other little skeletons, not caring whether they understood him or not, and start telling them inspirational phrases, after which he would move on to the next skeleton with the air of a caring manager. His voice filled the entire field, adding liveliness to the usually quiet space.
It was only here, in his cultivation space, where a calm, harmonious atmosphere reigned without deadly dangers, that Shen Xingyan could so directly express his true nature. Strictly speaking, he was only a recently matured youth. Although life's circumstances had made his character more mature, the remnants of youthful spontaneity still sometimes needed an outlet to prevent him from becoming too withdrawn.
When the cooldown time for his professional skill expired, Shen Xingyan cast aside his playful mood. Taking his Novice Staff and targeting all five mu of the field, he began to release Primordial energy from his body, directing it into the ground. Each time he used his professional skill, Shen Xingyan felt the Primordial energy circulate within his body. This sensation always seemed amazing to him, and with each use of a large amount of energy, his understanding of its nature deepened.
When Shen Xingyan's professional skill took effect, all the plants in the field began to move violently, advancing by one-tenth of their total growth process in a short amount of time. The most noticeable changes occurred with the potatoes—their stems began to lengthen at a speed visible to the eye, and the young leaves quickly changed color from a soft green to a dark green. The wheat looked calmer, with all changes occurring within the ears, where the number of grains rapidly increased.
Watching the plants as if they were on fast-forward, Shen Xingyan once again marveled at the power of his professional skill and felt incredibly lucky to possess such a powerful ability! While Shen Xingyan was reflecting on this, all the plants finished their accelerated growth and returned to their normal state.
Seeing this, Shen Xingyan rolled up his sleeves, preparing for the flood of notifications from the Star Source. Currently, the number of skeletons was more than enough to handle the notifications under normal conditions. However, it was still difficult to cope with the frequency of notifications immediately after using the skill, and he had to participate in the work himself. He hoped that when the number of skeletons increased and the field area didn't grow significantly, the situation would improve.
It wasn't just Shen Xingyan who was ready for work—the experienced little skeletons, seeing the situation, also took up a ready stance. After all, after every such anomalous event, they always entered a period of intense work. Their subconscious had already formed a habit of this, and they didn't require a special reminder from Shen Xingyan.
Under their attentive gazes, the notifications above the field appeared not gradually, as before, but instantly, requiring a quick response from Shen Xingyan and his team.
"Wangcai, tell everyone: let's get to work!" Shen Xingyan said, grabbing a hoe and getting down to business. The other skeletons acted in the same way, only their hoes were significantly shorter than Shen Xingyan's.
While Shen Xingyan and the little skeletons worked diligently, some high-level farmers with dark circles under their eyes and a sleepy look, yawning and barely staying awake, were tending to their one-mu wheat fields.