Shen Xingyan raised his Novice Staff high, and all the Primal Energy in his body began to circulate, gathering at the staff's tip, ready to spread across the entire field.
However, at that moment, the Star Source warning sounded in Shen Xingyan's ears again:
[Application of Professional Skill to near-mature crops detected. This may lead to failure. Proceed?]
Hearing this warning, Shen Xingyan paused and lightly shook his head, pondering: "It seems this notification about imminent maturity is based on the effect of my professional skill. If so, as my plan to 'shear the sheep' is carried out, this warning will probably appear more and more often. Hmph, it feels like I'm being singled out!"
Although Shen Xingyan thought this, the appearance of the warning strangely reassured him. After all, every time this notification appeared, the result was excellent, and he subconsciously perceived it as the harbinger of yet another record.
"Proceed!" Shen Xingyan nodded with a smile.
Following his agreement, the Primal Energy world reacted instantly. The energy, restrained in his staff, successfully spread across the entire field, effectively activating the skill.
[Congratulations! You have successfully applied your Professional Skill. Farmer Profession Experience +1.]
Hearing this notification, Shen Xingyan breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had successfully applied the professional skill every time under these circumstances, he still worried a little—after all, as the saying goes, your luck can't hold out forever. As such situations occurred more frequently, the moment the skill failed was inevitable. Shen Xingyan was mentally preparing himself for possible setbacks.
After the successful skill application, all the potato plants began to vibrantly sway. This was especially noticeable in the plot planted only yesterday—the plants seemed to have received an adrenaline injection and abruptly shot upward!
However, Shen Xingyan's gaze was fixed on the four plots of potatoes that were just about to ripen. Although the plants showed no external signs of growth, Shen Xingyan knew that under the earth, the potato tubers were rapidly increasing in size—a fact evidenced by the small moundings on the soil that were visible to the naked eye.
Soon, as the skill's effect concluded, an icon indicating the ability to harvest appeared above the field.
"Wangcai, send two small skeletons to tend to the central plot, and have all the remaining skeletons help me dig up the potatoes!" Shen Xingyan commanded enthusiastically.
He then quickly bought 17 three-pronged pitchforks for harvesting from the Star Source Store. He didn't buy more, as he didn't plan to grow potatoes for long, and there was no point spending money on extra tools.
Taking a pitchfork in his hands, he stretched his muscles with a smile. This was his first time harvesting potatoes, and he felt a surge of excitement.
Just as he was about to start working, he noticed that Wangcai and the other skeletons were standing there bewildered, unsure what to do.
Shen Xingyan realized that this was also the first potato harvest for Wangcai and his crew, and their confusion was perfectly natural. Calling Wangcai over, Shen Xingyan began explaining how to harvest potatoes.
"After you dig up the potatoes, you must check that no tubers are left in the ground, understood?"
Shen Xingyan himself had learned about potato harvesting from the reference guides, and now he was relaying that knowledge to Wangcai. In the real world, the opportunity to farm was a distant, unreachable dream.
Although Shen Xingyan's explanation was somewhat academic, Wangcai's cleverness once again did not disappoint his master. The smart skeleton quickly absorbed and mastered the technique after the very first lesson.
Shen Xingyan then instructed Wangcai to teach the other skeletons. Although he could himself use the weak mental link to teach several skeletons simultaneously, communicating through Wangcai was far more effective. What could he do? The efficiency of knowledge transfer among the skeletons was simply higher! In his observations, he noticed that a simple small gesture from Wangcai was enough for the skeletons to quickly understand and execute the task. Their communication efficiency was so high that even Shen Xingyan, their master, couldn't compare.
Seeing that Wangcai was already carrying out his instructions, Shen Xingyan stopped observing and started digging up potatoes himself.
The four mǔ of land planted with potatoes represented a considerable amount of work, even taking into account Shen Xingyan's significantly improved physical fitness. If he were working alone, it would have taken quite some time.
Fortunately, Wangcai and his team soon finished their instruction, and every skeleton, armed with short pitchforks, joined the harvest.
The work efficiency of the sixteen skeletons with doubled attributes was so high that Shen Xingyan, raising his head from time to time to look at them, couldn't help but exclaim: "How lucky I am! To have such diligent, skilled, and complaint-free 'workers'!"
Yet, it wasn't just him—any farmer in his position would have experienced the same feelings.
As the work continued, the movements of the small skeletons became increasingly confident and refined.
A job that would have taken even experienced, high-level farmers four or five hours was completed by Shen Xingyan and his skeletons in less than an hour.
Seeing the harvest icon above the field gradually disappear, Shen Xingyan wearily sank onto the ground, resting and patiently awaiting the Star Source assessment.
The Star Source did not keep him waiting long. After a few seconds, the notification sounded:
[Congratulations! You have cultivated potatoes over an area of 2,400 sq. m and collected a yield of 28,000 kg. Received 5,600 Farmer Profession Experience Points.]
"28,000 kilograms? 5,600 Experience Points!" exclaimed Shen Xingyan, hearing a result that significantly exceeded his expectations. He leaned back, pressed close to the earth, which now felt so familiar to him.
This feeling of a bountiful harvest filled his heart with incredible satisfaction!