Although he would not pursue the path of Gu Art, he could use it to earn money.
.....
"Buzz!"
The gigantic warship suddenly began to move. The two who were engrossed in conversation looked up and realized that everyone had assembled, and the fleet was setting off.
At this moment, several high-ranking guild members walked out onto the balcony of the central ship tower. One person in the middle loudly proclaimed:
"This guild mission is the largest action the guild has taken in recent years, with over half of our main force gathered. The operation is quite dangerous. This year's newcomers have no mandatory tasks and can stay on the ship to observe the entire mission."
"But considering some newcomers want to experience the life of official guild members early, by the president's approval, we have prepared some safe tasks, with guild contribution rewards. Specific tasks will be given to you later. Those interested can find your respective newcomer supervisors to receive the tasks at any time."
"Finally, I wish you all a bright future and everlasting success!"
After saying a few words, the leader left. Su Yu quickly received a mass message, which opened into a list of tasks.
There were not many tasks on the list, mostly repetitive ones.
Reconnaissance Task: Reconnoiter the distribution of spirit beasts in the Poisonous Mist Swamp.
Battle Task: Clear out the various wild monsters in the Poisonous Mist Swamp.
Guard Task: Guild craftsmen will establish temporary bases at important points in the Poisonous Mist Swamp, requiring people to guard them.
Mana Supply Task: Provide mana for the guild's warships or the Divine Thunder Tower within the base, essentially acting as a human battery.
These are basically the four tasks they could undertake.
Su Yu took a look and said to Zhuang Zhuo:
"I'm planning to take a battle task."
Zhuang Zhuo smiled and said:
"What a coincidence, I was thinking the same."
"Shall we team up?"
"Let's go."
He quickly contacted the newcomer instructor, Fu Ping, and received a Jade Talisman.
This item could be worn on them to record the monsters they killed in the Poisonous Mist Swamp. The rewards would be determined later based on the monsters cleared.
After receiving the task, all that was left was to wait.
The giant wooden ship, with a rating of grade six, was over a kilometer long, with a top speed of up to 800 kilometers per hour, capable of carrying 3,000 people. The distance of 6,600 kilometers took just ten hours.
When the fleet reached the destination, they saw a narrow river only a few kilometers wide. Following the river into the Taihu Mountain Range led to the Poisonous Mist Swamp.
In the Age of the Earth, the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River were only two to three kilometers wide, which, in the Other Shore World, wouldn't even count as a river.
In the Other Shore World, those qualified as great rivers are several hundred to a thousand kilometers wide, as vast as the sea.
The fleet sailed upriver and then, after more than three hours, a broad expanse of water came into view, stretching as far as the eye could see.
The fleet stopped here, and a large amount of Demon-Attracting Incense was lit, quickly drawing a large number of spirit monsters from the Poisonous Mist Swamp.
The Divine Thunder Towers roared, slaughtering the densely packed beasts.
After several rounds, when they confirmed no beasts were left, the fleet divided into separate routes, with each composed of Tier Five Furious Whale Ships and Tier Four Wave-piercing Giant Ships heading into the Poisonous Mist Swamp.
Feeling bored, Su Yu leaned against the ship's railing. They were still not needed to take action at this stage.
Initial teams were sent into the Poisonous Mist Swamp to establish one temporary base after another. At these bases, statues of the Water God were enshrined to utilize the Divine Power of the Yuanjiang River God, suppressing the area's Laws, slowing the refresh rate and frequency of monsters.
The first step was to clean out the spirit beasts in the Poisonous Mist Swamp, otherwise, if the Poison Flood Dragon King gave a command in the decisive battle, wild beasts from the entire swamp would rush over, numbering in tens of millions, which could drown them.
After setting up the guild's temporary base, it would be time for their action.
Just this step alone took over ten hours of waiting. Su Yu, dozing off by the ship's railing, was suddenly awakened by the sound of a dull bell.
He sprang up like a spring, and Zhuang Zhuo, who had already awoken, commented:
"We can set out now."
Su Yu looked up to see many newcomers on the deck soaring into the sky, either riding spirit beasts or aboard flying ships, leaving the warship and flying towards afar.
Zhuang Zhuo took out a Green Wood Boat, tossed it, and it quickly expanded into a five-meter-long flying ship. He boarded the ship and said:
"I've chosen temporary base number five."
Su Yu also jumped aboard:
"Let's go."
The Green Wood Boat rose, enveloped in a thin glow, and took to the sky, flying forward.
After flying for a few minutes, they saw a faint gray mist start to appear in the air ahead, and the lakes below began darkening. Half an hour later, they crossed this body of water and saw the first piece of land protruding from the water's surface, densely covered with gray-green vegetation shrouded in a faint mist.
At this point, a Tier Three Fire Spirit Ship lowered its altitude and headed toward the floating island. As it descended to about 200 meters, a swarm of flying insects burst from the dense jungle.
The flying insects were basketball-sized, round-bodied, covered in thick shells, with clawed hands, and wing edges as sharp as blades. Their mouthparts were flanked by pincer-like mandibles, exuding ferocity.
On the Fire Spirit Ship, more than twenty people gathered at the ship's edge, each brandishing their Magical Treasures below.
Blades, swords, hammers, cauldrons, towers, and various other treasures surged together, the flying insects crumbling upon contact.
Then came a large flaming net, spreading rapidly and covering nearly an acre, ensnaring all the venomous insects within, its blazing flames crackling loudly.
This swarm of insects was at level 17, but their Qi and Blood were much lower than other spirit beasts, and they were quickly eliminated with a beating.
The fire net receded, then expanded again to cover about two acres and descended, burning the lush vegetation within, with many poison bugs crackling as they burned.
Before they could see more, they had already flown past towards further ahead.
Over two hours later, they arrived at temporary base number five.
Within these few hours, the guild's craftsmen had already built a stone-walled fortress on the island and erected more than twenty Divine Thunder Towers, the vegetation within kilometers of the base blown to pieces.
The two arrived a bit late, with already quite a few people on the island, so they had to fly outward.
To the south of the island, in the dim marsh beneath the gray fog.
This was a classic toxic marshland, with blackened sludge, gray-black vegetation, and swarming mosquitoes like a cloud. Various demon aura columns rose like wisps of smoke.
"Let's begin!"
Zhuang Zhuo drew out a Hundred Gu Banner painted with images of insects, waving it, releasing a silver mist that formed a vortex. Red Flame Flying Centipedes, about two meters long and at level 26, flew out, spiraling around him.
"Red Flame Flying Centipedes?"
Hearing this, Zhuang Zhuo chuckled proudly:
"Every cent I had was spent on these, nurturing them from level one, they've only taken form recently."
"How many do you have?"
"32."
"Impressive!"
Zhuang Zhuo swung the Hundred Gu Banner, leaving eight Red Flame Flying Centipedes to protect himself while sending the remaining 24 to the ground.
Targeted was a Swamp Black Python over ten meters long, at level 42, which rose on seeing them and spewed a mouthful of venomous water.
The centipedes dispersed to dodge the venom before swarming the python to bite it.
Though the python was of higher level, centipedes have an advantage over snake-type creatures. Moreover, they had the advantage in numbers, easily biting through the scales as damage indicators of -21, -20 continued to pop up on the python's body.
Though the damage wasn't high, the analogy of ants biting an elephant to death held true.
Seeing he could handle it, Su Yu shifted his focus, raised a hand, and a white sword light flew out, hovering before him. With a flick of his finger, it shot forward, circled around the head of a level 39 Poisonous Toad, and a pair of -324 damage numbers floated up.
The Poisonous Toad, feeling the pain, leaped from the mud. Su Yu's sword command drew a curve, sending the sword light whirling around, slicing past the belly of the airborne toad as it returned.
-375
The damage was higher than before, indicating that the toad's back had more defense than its belly.
The toad extended its red tongue over twenty meters as it leapt but missed, falling back from the heavy weight. Su Yu swiftly changed strategy, casting the disorderly clouds, with the flying sword flickering into several sword shadows, striking repeatedly, as more damage numbers floated up.
Being out of reach, the toad smartly refrained from being headstrong, swiftly diving into a nearby pool. The once muddy water turned turbid, obscuring the toad's form.
Su Yu gestured as if grasping towards the air, recalling his sword, about to deploy a Blast Skill to force the toad back out. The pool suddenly exploded as the toad leaped out once more, but was quickly ensnared by several black tendrils and yanked back in.
Struggling, the toad was further ensnared by more tendrils that pierced it, visibly causing its once plump body to shrink and wither.