"The more beautiful it is, the more dangerous!"
Zhang Wuji's (1) mother's words appeared in Chu Xian's mind. En, the meaning was about the same.
The Box Jellyfish was one of the most dangerous creatures in the sea, and it was even more dangerous than the Heterodontus horn shark. A sting could kill a grown man in thirty seconds, and there was no effective antidote. It was the king of poison.
Chu Xian couldn't help but gulp in a panic. He quickly looked around before letting out a sigh of relief.
Even though there were many jellyfish around him, none of them were as toxic as the box jellyfish, and some of them were even tiny and basically poison-free.
The big Box Jellyfish seemed to sense Chu Xian's presence and extended its tentacles toward him.
The long tentacles scared Chu Xian to pieces, and he quickly backed away without hesitation.
"Zi zi!" But because of his huge body, he couldn't turn around quickly enough and a couple of the box jellyfish's tentacles brushed his tail. He felt the burn.
"Hu, hu. Lucky, lucky!"
Chu Xian let out another breath of relief; his tail was only a little numb. Thankfully the jellyfish was slow; if it had moved any faster, Chu Xian would probably have died there today. As he turned his god's eye view to his body, Chu Xian saw black stripes on his tail where the tentacles touched him.
"Hu, luckily my tail is covered with thick scales which blocked the toxin!"
Chu Xian rejoiced and looked in the direction of the Box Jellyfish with some terror. The sonar detection only showed the region in black and white, and it was hard to distinguish the jellyfish from the sea plants around them. Chu Xian had been careless and hadn't checked his god eye view carefully.
"I have to be more careful. There's danger lurking everywhere in the sea!"
"But if I gain a talent for toxins, would that also increase my poison resistance? Pufferfish are also very toxic; I should buy some. And electric eels as well. Maybe I can gain an electricity talent. And flying fish too! Wait, if I'm not mistaken, there's also a kind of fish that spits fire. There's probably all kinds of other fish in the ocean that possess special abilities. If I can catch them all, wouldn't I become a mythical animal… eh, a mythical man?"
Chu Xian hadn't really paid any attention to his other abilities while he was busy reforming the ornamental fish, but now that he was in the sea, he realized that every new talent was a potential defense mechanism keeping himself safe. Chu Xian felt that he had to find more fish with abilities to devour.
He was still busy thinking as he swam around the Box Jellyfish, carefully using his sonar detection and his god view to examine the area.
"So many jellyfish! There are so many colors! This is a gathering place for jellyfish!"
Chu Xian was surprised by the number of jellyfish that filled the area.
"How about selling jellyfish as ornamental fish?"
The thought popped into his head and he very quickly decided to act upon it. There were all kinds of jellyfish that were different colors and some even glowed in the dark. What would it look like if you had a glowing jellyfish at night? The jellyfish could give off a warm light, and you could even insert some other shrimp and small fish in it as decoration. [It'd definitely be just as interesting as my ornamental goldfish, if not even more highly valued.]
[And as for the price, I can just price them however I like; there's no competition.]
[And most importantly, jellyfish and shrimp are creatures that live in the sea. It'll attract attention when I sell them on the market, but I don't have to be too worried. I can just tell whoever asks where I got them from that it's a commercial secret. Otherwise, anyone could catch them if I told them where I found them.]
[Glowing blue Moon Jellyfish, glowing white Papuan Jellyfish, Red Jellyfish, Colored Jellyfish, Mosaic Jellyfish, Egg Yolk Jellyfish. I can sell them all!]
As he made up his mind, Chu Xian started looking around. He really could see all the different types of jellyfish here, and there were a lot of species he didn't even recognize.
"I just need a net to bring these to shore, and I'll first test the market. If the results are good, I can open a shop to specialize in these things, and it won't interfere with my goldfish business."
Chu Xian kept swimming around the sea plants and discovered all kinds of beautiful things.
After he swam around for half an hour, Chu Xian still hadn't found the end to the seagrass.
"Eh, what is this?"
A little farther inward, Chu Xian spotted several strange plants, and his face was covered with astonishment.
It was a very beautiful plant, and as he swam closer, the Christmas tree-like plant shrunk backward.
"F***, this isn't a plant! Oh, it might be a worm!"
"If I'm not wrong, this is a Christmas Tree Worm!"
The Christmas Tree Worm had a tubular, segmented body lined with chaeta, which were small appendages that aided the worm's mobility. Because it didn't move outside its tube, this worm didn't have any specialized appendages for movement or swimming. The worms' most distinct features were two "crowns" shaped like Christmas trees. These were highly modified prostomial palps which were specialized mouth appendages. Each spiral was composed of feather-like tentacles called radioles which were heavily ciliated and caused any prey trapped in them to be transported to the worm's mouth.
Christmas Tree Worms were listed as one of the top ten most beautiful sea creatures.
Chu Xian's eyes blurred as he took in the swathes of Christmas Tree Worms.
He had been wondering how to create beautiful aquariums from sea creatures and plants, and right at that moment, these Christmas Tree Worms appeared like coal on a snowy day. They could elevate his aquariums to a whole 'nother level.
He could use jellyfish, Christmas Tree Worms, and some stones from the bottom of the sea in addition to some precious small ornamental fish and other fish like clownfish. He could already imagine the miniature sea world inside the beautiful aquarium.
After wandering around for a while longer, Chu Xian floated to the surface and looked at the mountaintop in the distance. He memorized the general location then returned to the shore.
On the way, he caught some giant lobsters for tomorrow's meals.
After half an hour, Chu Xian reached the shore and dressed quickly. After putting the lobsters in the car, he drove home.
It was a fruitful day, and he had the chance to see the real sea. It was dangerous but full of opportunities.
"If I can use that seagrass area well, I can earn a lot of money. Heehee, I'm still an earthly man!"