Whaleport Town was incredibly bustling.
But Su Hao thought about the long road ahead and decided there was no rush to explore it all at once.
"First, handle the enrollment procedures and drop off my luggage."
Then, he would check out Whale Island University's training facilities and grounds, and sort out tasks for his three spirits.
He could take his time exploring later, right?
He boarded a public bus, and after nearly an hour, finally arrived from the airport at the entrance of Whale Island University.
This convinced Su Hao.
Whaleport Town was truly massive.
The gate of Whale Island University was also enormous!
Su Hao looked over.
To the left of the gate stood a giant stone tablet, as tall as an eight- or nine-story building, engraved with the four bold, flowing characters "Whale Island University."
The entire gate was arched, about several dozen meters wide, wide enough for ten Lava Tortoises to walk side by side.
On both sides of the gate, trees as tall as three or four stories were planted.
Lush and verdant, they encircled the entire school.
But there were no fences or walls.
Su Hao wondered: if Whale Island University didn't allow outsiders in, why wasn't it completely sealed off?
It seemed like you could sneak into the campus through the groves on either side.
It wasn't until his Dream Moth let out a "Guno" that he noticed a faint, shimmering barrier connecting the left and right sides of the gate.
"What kind of technology is this?"
Su Hao shook his head, dismissing the thought, and walked forward.
The area was empty, except for a table set up in front of a flower bed ahead, with two spirits sitting around it.
One was an Elephant General, the other a Golden Armor Overlord.
Su Hao had seen plenty of Elephant Generals before; its iconic stone warhammer stood upright on the ground without falling over.
The Golden Armor Overlord was the evolved form of the Golden Armor Warrior, a metal-type spirit.
Like the Elephant General, it was an upright, humanoid spirit.
Its head was long and pointed, like a triangle, with narrow eyes, and its body was covered in neatly arranged layers of golden scales, resembling a thick suit of golden armor.
In terms of sheer appearance, it was even more imposing and domineering than the Elephant General.
The Golden Armor Overlord's weapon was a nearly two-meter-long, dark-gold broadsword.
The handle rested on the ground, standing as still as the stone warhammer.
Of course...
Whether it was the dark-gold sword or the stone warhammer, they were essentially extensions of the two spirits' bodies, so leaving them like that wasn't strange at all... Yeah, right!
On the table in front of the Elephant General and Golden Armor Overlord was a chess set.
Compared to the spirits' massive sizes, the chess pieces were ridiculously tiny, making it hard for them to pick up and place pieces without accidentally knocking others over...
"Moo-moo~ Moo!!"
The Elephant General grabbed the Golden Armor Overlord's hand.
It bellowed, accusing it of cheating!
The Golden Armor Overlord's eyes darted: I didn't, no way, don't make things up.
Su Hao watched, dumbfounded.
He thought they were just struggling with the tiny pieces, never imagining it was about cheating.
University spirits really had deep schemes!
The Dream Moth seemed thoughtful, as if learning something.
But then it looked at its own tiny hands and fell into contemplation.
At the school gate, Su Hao couldn't find a security booth.
He didn't see any other students either, so his gaze returned to the two guardian spirits.
He poked the Dream Moth on his head.
The Dream Moth asked them, "Guno guno?"
The Golden Armor Overlord, caught cheating, stood up with a thud, its massive body blocking the sunlight and casting a shadow.
It let out a sharp cry, almost like a whimpering sob.
Su Hao: "..."
If it didn't speak, the Golden Armor Overlord would be a total badass—too bad it wasn't mute.
The two spirits exchanged a few sounds.
Su Hao understood.
He pulled his admission letter and the recommendation letter from Summer King out of his backpack.
The Golden Armor Overlord glanced at them, waved its hand, and let him pass.
...
Whale Island University's campus was vast.
How vast?
The official website didn't say.
But considering that Whaleport Town only occupied a small part of the entire island, with the rest being the university campus, you could imagine how huge it was.
Fortunately, Su Hao hadn't walked far before he spotted a few vehicles parked by the roadside... They looked somewhat like park sightseeing carts.
They were labeled "Driverless—select destination by voice or manual input."
After getting on, he tried pressing buttons on the screen.
—He didn't know the roads, but Su Hao knew he needed to go to the Student Affairs Office first.
After selecting the destination, a gender-neutral voice announced, "Vehicle about to depart, please sit tight," and the cart slowly moved along the wide road.
Over a dozen minutes later, he arrived.
Along the way, Su Hao had only seen two people and three spirits, the place feeling as empty as a ghost town.
At the Student Affairs Office, the surrounding buildings were more numerous.
Su Hao checked the posted instructions and walked in.
In the main hall, probably because it was break time, there was only one teacher sitting at a computer.
But there was also another student inside.
Accompanied by three spirits.
One was a Giant Tide Frog—the evolved form of the Jade Water Frog—about the size of a water tank, its cheeks puffing in and out.
One was an Iron Tail Shrimp—the evolved form of the Little River Shrimp—whose final form was the Giant Cannon Lobster, slightly smaller than the Giant Tide Frog.
Its metallic tail tapped against the hall floor, making a clacking sound.
The teacher glared at the student. "Damage that, and I'll deduct it from your credits."
The student quickly glared back at the Iron Tail Shrimp.
The last spirit was one Su Hao was seeing in person for the first time.
It was an Ice Vulpix.
About the size of a house cat, with a slender body, short ice-blue fur, and six tails floating like ribbons, tipped with crystal-like icicles.
Elegant and noble.
Su Hao's eyes lingered on the Ice Vulpix for a while.
"Guno!!"
Then the Dream Moth tapped him.
The student ahead finished his procedures, and Su Hao stepped forward. "Hello, teacher, I'm a new student this year..."
He presented his admission letter and recommendation letter.
The female teacher checked them, placed the recommendation letter in a drawer below, and began processing his enrollment.
She said, "Since it's not yet the official enrollment time arranged by the school, I can't issue you a formal student card."
She pulled out a card. "This is a temporary student card. It comes with a hundred credits as a new student gift. Since it's not official, losing it would be a hassle to recover the data, so... make sure you don't lose it.
The most important thing at a spirit university is the credit system.
It's similar across schools.
One credit can be exchanged for ten thousand Dragon Kingdom dollars.
But... cash can't be exchanged for credits.
On campus, common resources like attribute essences and jade powder can be bought with regular currency, but rare ones can only be exchanged with credits!
Whale Island University's credits are more valuable than those at ordinary spirit universities.
The reason is simple.
Whale Island University has many high-value items, far more than typical schools—these items come not only from Dragon Kingdom support but also from items discovered by teachers and students in the New World.
Sold back to the school, it creates a healthy resource cycle.
A hundred credits represent countless resources.
Whale Island University giving that out from the start was incredibly generous.
But neither Su Hao nor the unknown student showed much reaction.
The teacher at the office wasn't surprised.
Anyone who could get a recommendation letter for early admission wasn't poor.
Still, she warned, "You only have temporary credit cards. Before the semester starts, you have no way to earn more credits, so I suggest you use them sparingly.
"Best to spend them on training time for various facilities and grounds—those don't require many credits and should last you until the semester begins."
"Then, teacher, how do we earn credits after the semester starts?"
The one asking was the boy in white clothes standing nearby.
The teacher thought for a moment. "Course assessments and tasks can earn you credits, but for you, there's also a chance to get a large number of credits.
"That's the challenge event held every year for new students."