Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Forced Mission—Clearing the Poisonous Swamp
A few days later.
Several flying ships marked with the insignia of the Crimson Sunset Sect unexpectedly appeared over Yuan Guang City, located west of the Hongduan Mountain Range.
This city is precisely where their Crimson Sunset Sect has established a base.
It possesses several intersecting high-quality second-level Spirit Veins.
Ji Haoyuan and others, after disembarking from the flying ship and entering Yuan Guang City, were quickly assigned their respective abodes.
Upon reaching his own abode, Ji Haoyuan initially thought that the Crimson Sunset Sect wouldn’t assign tasks to them, the family cultivators, so soon.
Unexpectedly, about a week after Ji Haoyuan and the others arrived in Yuan Guang City, a specific task was assigned to them.
This was a mandatory task.
Anyone receiving such a task must complete it.
Ji Haoyuan looked at the jade token in his hand, which was flashing detailed task information, and fell into contemplation.
The task wasn’t considered difficult, but it wasn’t simple either.
He was required to clear out the Demon Beasts located in a place called Poisonous Swamp, eighty miles outside Yuan Guang City, within a week.
During these days, Ji Haoyuan had used various means to familiarize himself with the situation in Yuan Guang City and its surroundings.
He learned that the Poisonous Swamp mentioned in the task was inhabited by creatures known as Giant-tailed Poison Crocodiles.
These Demon Beasts mostly live in groups.
They are born with the ability to manipulate poisons.
Additionally, they possess extraordinarily powerful physical bodies.
Especially their giant tails.
These seem to be able to transform into multiple tail shadows for attacks.
They are considered one of the more troublesome types among second-level Demon Beasts.
It is worth noting that this task can be considered a team task.
This means Ji Haoyuan can invite Feng Wanqing and the others to participate together.
After they complete this task, for a period of time, the Crimson Sunset Sect will not assign them other similar mandatory tasks.
Then the question arises.
Should he invite Feng Wanqing and the others for this task?
After a brief consideration, Ji Haoyuan decided to invite Feng Wanqing and the others.
Nothing else, simply to let everyone become familiar with each other’s cooperation.
He also wanted to see what methods the Sword Cultivator Qiu Zeyuan possessed.
Thinking this, Ji Haoyuan immediately sent messages to the three of them through the Communication Jade Talisman.
About a moment later.
Qiu Zeyuan, Liu Hongyu, and Feng Wanqing all appeared in Ji Haoyuan’s abode.
Seeing the three arrivals, Ji Haoyuan didn’t waste words and promptly explained the situation of the task to them.
The three, upon hearing, were also surprised at how quickly the Crimson Sunset Sect assigned Ji Haoyuan a mandatory task, but they didn’t say much. Instead, they knowingly nodded their heads.
[They expressed that they had no objections to this task.]
"Alright.
There’s no time to waste, let’s set off directly."
Ji Haoyuan didn’t delay and, after confirming the three had no objections, he led the way out of his abode towards the Poisonous Swamp eighty miles outside Yuan Guang City.
Along the way.
He agreed with the three on the distribution rules for the upcoming spoils and distributed to them the second-level Detoxification Pills he personally refined.
When Ji Haoyuan’s group was about a few miles away from the Poisonous Swamp, the four of them halted their Escape Light and began to carefully observe the situation of the Poisonous Swamp.
It must be said, the Poisonous Swamp truly lives up to being a place overflowing with poisons.
Even at a distance of several miles, they could faintly smell the sweet stench in the air.
But these were not what concerned Ji Haoyuan and the others the most. What truly caught their attention were the dozens of massive figures hovering above the Poisonous Swamp.
Among them, the five figures with bodies exceeding ten zhang in length were what concerned Ji Haoyuan the most.
They were entirely gray-brown, with rough, uneven surfaces resembling gray, fleshy mounds.
A gigantic tail occupying nearly half of their bodies swung back and forth in the swamp and air, instantly causing waves of black mud and water to surge.
Undoubtedly, those five Giant-tailed Poison Crocodiles had reached the level of second-tier Demon Beasts.
Among them, two were faintly approaching the threshold of high-grade second-tier.
They estimated that, given a catalyst, they could achieve high-grade second-tier Demon Beast status.
"Gentlemen, any ideas on dealing with those Giant-tailed Poison Crocodiles?"
At this moment, Ji Haoyuan inquired.
If it were up to him, he wouldn’t have been so meticulous.
But since it was a team collaboration and their first time, out of respect, he still asked the three.
"I can handle one of the mid-grade second-tier Giant-tailed Poison Crocodiles."
Qiu Zeyuan was the first to speak.
As a Sword Cultivator, for him to handle a mid-grade second-tier Demon Beast alone wasn’t a problem.
Even if the mid-grade second-tier Demon Beast was already infinitely close to high-grade second-tier, he had the confidence to resolve it.
However, if there were two or more, he might be overwhelmed.
After all, mid-grade second-tier Demon Beasts, in terms of strength, already rival the cultivators at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment among the human race.
They have tough physiques and possess certain innate abilities.
In one-on-one situations, some cultivators at the same level might not necessarily be a match for those Demon Beasts.
Qiu Zeyuan, being a Sword Cultivator, was confident but not foolish, nor was he arrogant.
If he were, given his character, he wouldn’t have survived until now.
Ji Haoyuan acknowledged Qiu Zeyuan’s stance.
In fact.
His earlier question also held the intention of gauging Qiu Zeyuan’s reaction.
If the person hesitated or was overly arrogant, it would make him reconsider whether to change teammates in the future.
But his current attitude was just right, and it gave Ji Haoyuan a preliminary sense of approval regarding this person’s actions.
"In that case, let Qiu handle one of the mid-tier Giant-tailed Poison Crocodiles, Liu Dao You and Fairy Feng, you are tasked with restraining the remaining three lower-tier Giant-tailed Poison Crocodiles.
After Qiu and I have slain the two mid-tier Giant-tailed Poison Crocodiles, we will assist you in slaying the others.
Does this arrangement meet with your agreement?"
As he spoke, Ji Haoyuan’s gaze swept over the three of them.
Liu Hongyu and Feng Wanqing immediately shook their heads.
"We have no objections."
"I have no objections either."
Qiu Zeyuan timely nodded.
"Good, since that’s settled, let’s proceed!"
With that, Ji Haoyuan swiftly dashed forward.
He transformed into a stream of light, instantly shattering the bodies of several first-tier Giant-tailed Poison Crocodiles ahead, finally crashing harshly into one of the mid-tier Giant-tailed Poison Crocodiles!
Boom!
In an instant, waves of air surged.
The marsh below seemed to be struck by artillery fire, suddenly lifting nearly a hundred meters of black muddy water, which then splashed violently in all directions.