The sky of the new world was a deeper blue than that of Hailan Star.
The air was thick with dense spiritual energy. Whether spirit or human, everyone who arrived couldn't help but... take a deep, refreshing breath.
It reminded Su Hao of last year, when someone had tried to sell "new world air" under that very name.
Obviously a scam.
Anyone who could freely enter and leave the new world wouldn't stoop to such petty cash.
"Besides, air can be bottled, but spiritual energy can't—it dissipates long before."
...
Jingzhou City was bustling, the most prosperous new world city Su Hao had ever seen.
It was also lively.
Not only were there students and instructors from the school, but also some outside teams.
Su Hao noticed quite a few company branches within Jingzhou City.
For instance, the ubiquitous Green Shade Group, or the Red Lotus Mining Corporation—both behemoths with business spread everywhere.
When the instructors led them out of the entrance hall and onto a busy street, one turned around and said, "I'll give you ten minutes. You can use this time to buy supplies or do other things. Gather here in ten minutes.
"Latecomers..." He paused. "Lose credits. One minute late costs five credits."
Many students had clearly forgotten to bring necessities, or assumed the school would provide them.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, they dashed toward the shops.
Su Hao looked around too. The nearby stores had a surprisingly complete range of items.
Daily necessities.
Jade powder, materials.
Some rare items unavailable outside were also here.
But the prices...
Su Hao noticed they were basically two to three times what they'd be outside.
If purchased with 'credits' or 'points,' the price was the same, but...
"Why is it so expensive?" a student asked, dumbfounded.
Someone else sneered in reply, "Never been to the new world? Never heard of the border tax? Prices are always higher here!"
The instructor also spoke up, "Participating in the集训 without doing your homework, not bringing all your necessities—that's your problem, and you have to bear the consequences.
"Right now, you have the chance to spend two or three times the price to buy what you need. But in the future, if you forget something, you might not get a second chance!
"A small oversight could cost you your life!"
Ten minutes wasn't much time, so Su Hao quickly browsed the area, checking out Jingzhou City's local specialties.
He noticed...
Hmm, seafood... lake food was especially abundant. Made his mouth water a bit.
"I'll buy some for you to eat when we get back."
He flicked the little one's forehead.
Die Xiaodie clutched her head, lost in thought.
How did Su Hao know I wanted to eat that gulu~?
Ten minutes later,
The team reassembled. A large group of people, a huge crowd of spirits, marched out of the city under the watchful eyes of senior students.
...
Once outside the city, the first thing Su Hao saw was the vast expanse of blue, stretching endlessly—a lake!
Like an ocean!
"What you see before you is the famous Dragon Court Lake."
The water-element instructor, the one Su Hao knew as Instructor Ma, said, "Not every region in the new world has abundant resources, but luckily, the Dragon Court Lake area our school owns is very rich, with many rare materials.
"Especially the three large islands in Dragon Court Lake: Thousand Peaks Island, Ten Thousand Forests Island, and Misty Island.
"See that island at the far end? That's Thousand Peaks Island, one of the places you'll be training at."
Instructor Ma paused, then continued, "The集训 has two goals.
"First, to teach you wilderness survival, similar to your special training tasks in high school.
"Second, to teach you how to collect rare materials.
"You there, tell me—what can you see around us?"
Instructor Ma randomly picked a lucky student and asked.
The boy hesitated, then ventured, "Lake water, trees, the air feels a bit damp?"
Instructor Ma laughed in exasperation. "Are you stupid, or am I? I'm asking what rare materials you can see!!"
Long ago, the Dragon Kingdom had compiled a thick illustrated guide on the appearance, growth environment, and collection methods of various rare materials.
In their first semester of freshman year, Su Hao and his classmates had taken a required course on it.
An Attribute Heart was one of the easier materials to identify.
But most rare materials were hard to recognize, requiring an eye for spotting money.
The chosen boy didn't have it. He hung his head in shame.
Instructor Ma swept his gaze around, his eyes carrying a weight that made every boy and girl lower their heads as he passed.
This batch is terrible! he thought.
Finally, he found a student who hadn't lowered his head.
It was Su Hao!
Instructor Ma's tone softened noticeably. "Student Su Hao, what can you see?"
Su Hao turned his neck a full 180 degrees, staring straight ahead, his eyes seemingly devoid of emotion or ripple.
After a brief look, he spoke:
"Silverthread Grass... about 150 meters north, three plants."
"Wood Spirit Fruit Tree, about 300 meters northwest, six fruits on the tree."
"Calming Flower, northeast about..."
Instructor Ma nodded approvingly at first.
Then nodded in amazement.
Then nodded in shock.
Finally, nodded in realization.
What in the world are your eyes made of?!
"Ahem, ahem, okay, that's enough!"
He saw Su Hao rattling off the surrounding rare materials like a menu, while the Dream Butterfly darted out like the wind, plucking them in the blink of an eye.
The technique, the roots...
Flawless!
By the end, the Dream Butterfly was even directing other spirits, trying to spread out and gather more.
Instructor Ma had to call a halt.
And wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Die Xiaodie stopped reluctantly and placed the collected materials into the empty backpack hanging on the Water Scale Beast's back.
That's right—out of five backpacks, three were empty!
Su Hao helped Die Xiaodie sort the materials by type. Seeing how many rare items they'd gathered in just a few minutes, he couldn't help but marvel:
"No wonder so many spirit masters want to come to the new world to strike it rich. It really is a land of treasure everywhere!"
A dozen or so instructors began teaching the students how to "pan for gold."
The freshmen had all studied material identification, and with hands-on practice in the real environment, everyone's skill in spotting materials improved rapidly.
In just over an hour, they had scoured the forest in front of them from top to bottom.
Some had made a good haul.
Others found materials that weren't worth much.
But everyone was excited.
Then,
Instructor Ma spoke again, "The training lesson ends here. Next, we'll start the real content.
"Your first task is to reach Thousand Peaks Island in the middle of the lake.
"No riding spirits. You must learn to use the environment and build your own rafts to cross the lake.
"Five people per team. The entire team must reach Thousand Peaks Island to succeed. The first ten teams to arrive each get 50 credits. The slowest twenty teams each lose 50 credits!"
As Instructor Ma finished speaking, everyone stirred.
Big Face Liu immediately sidled up to him, expressing his desire to latch onto a strong teammate.
"I'll carry you all, no problem..."
Su Hao didn't finish.
Instructor Ma spoke again, "All teams are assigned by the instructors. The specific arrangements have been sent to your spirit bracelets."
Instantly, the bracelets vibrated.
Su Hao tapped to open his. After a moment, he found his teammates based on the information.
He was dumbfounded.
Two boys, two girls.
All with only one elite-level spirit, barely entry-level.
And among all their spirits...
Not a single water-type!
I suspect Instructor Ma is targeting me, and I have proof!
Su Hao looked over.
Instructor Ma looked back, smiling. "Confidence, no need to doubt. It was deliberately arranged.
"The reason? You should understand."