Sea Cultivation: Giant Ships and Heavy Artillery Knock on the Door to All Races

Chapter 263 Blue-Blooded Jellyfish Tide, Sea Peddler

"Thirteenth Master, there's an unfamiliar fleet ahead. Should we go around it or just approach it directly? Wouldn't that be too presumptuous?"

"Don't rush, slow down first, let me ask them about the situation!"

Lin Qianfan switched the communication array to an unencrypted public channel. Just as he was about to ask the other party for details, a message came first, explaining the situation and making inquiries.

It turns out that this area of ​​the sea ahead has experienced its first rare "blue-blooded jellyfish tide" this year, and the third-tier seafood collection ship named "Fengying" comes from a newly emerging small Golden Core faction nearby called "Xuanyuan Sea Pavilion".

As for these Tier 2 monster-hunting ships, they come from multiple nearby forces. They are all here to chase the Blue Blood Jellyfish tide, and some of the monster-hunting ships in the fleet are from Haiyue Bay.

The Blue Blood Jellyfish is a common first-tier aquatic monster. It has low intelligence and average individual strength, but its size and attack power are decent. It can use electric attacks and likes to appear in groups.

Previously, this area did not have such a large blue-blooded jellyfish tide, but due to the millennium beast tide, the original underwater ecosystem was almost completely destroyed. The ocean is undergoing rapid secondary succession, and new hunting grounds are forming. In the future, this sea may form a fixed annual blue-blooded jellyfish tide.

"I see! Judging from the scale of this jellyfish tide, it can indeed support a hunting ground, but the prey is too limited."

After confirming there was no danger, Lin Qianfan immediately asked the Third Elder to explain their origins and the identity of the Tianji merchant ship, and inquired whether the Tianji ship could join the tides to harvest marine resources together.

Upon hearing that it was the Lin family of Yulong, the other party became serious. Although the two sides had little interaction, the Lin family was a well-known name in the Western Regions. Naturally, there was no reason for them to refuse. Sea resources were generally unclaimed; whoever caught them kept them.

However, the other party also made a request:

The Tianji Wheel cannot purchase the catches of other monster-hunting ships! They have a fixed cooperative relationship!

Of course, Tianji Wheel wouldn't go and ruin someone else's cooperative relationship. Besides, Tianji Wheel simply didn't have any extra cargo space to accommodate these worthless prey, so it immediately agreed!

"Ding ding ding~ Guys, get out there and get to work!"

Although the Tianji Wheel is a merchant ship, at sea, it can switch roles and take on various parts. When it encounters a suitable and valuable spirit fish tide, it can also go back to its old profession and start fishing!
As the Tianji ship closed in, scattered blue-blooded jellyfish began to appear on the sea surface, and a crew member immediately scooped one up to examine it.

"Wow, this head is huge!"

The boatman used his own magical artifact, the Spirit Net, to catch the jellyfish. A single blue-blooded jellyfish filled his entire net. Fortunately, the resistance of a single blue-blooded jellyfish was not high. Although it kept discharging electricity in an attempt to attack him, it was not too difficult for a Qi Refining cultivator to handle.

This blue-blooded jellyfish is a semi-transparent, soft, blue creature. When killed, it bleeds blue blood and its flesh immediately turns white. Its monster meat doesn't fetch a high price, but it has a high yield.

More importantly, the blue blood of the blue-blooded jellyfish is a valuable medicinal ingredient. It can be applied externally to relieve various types of fire poisons, and can also be added to various detoxification pills as a raw material. Given the current large tide, its total value is immeasurable.

"Haha~ We're rich! Don't underestimate these things just because they're worthless individually and cause little bleeding. But when you accumulate them, they're terrifying. And they can keep going non-stop for twelve hours a day throughout the entire flood season!"

Some of the older sailors on the ship knew about the blue-blooded jellyfish. These creatures like to travel in groups, and what appears to be suicide is actually a group mating, with the fertilized eggs already scattered.

Even if all these mature organisms are retrieved, they have already completed their reproductive mission, and other mature organisms will gather again next year. As long as the seabed ecosystem is not destroyed, they will never be completely retrieved.

The Tianji ship sailed directly into the area where the blue-blooded jellyfish were dense, but it did not get too close to other ships. After all, it was an outsider and disturbing others would definitely make people unhappy. It was enough to stand in one corner.

By this time, all three hundred boatmen had arrived on deck.
"This... how can such a mindless monster grow to such a massive scale? I've really learned something new today!"

The entire sea surface was covered with an endless expanse of blue-blooded jellyfish, which kept wriggling. It seemed that there were more than just these; in the deeper and farther reaches, small groups of blue-blooded jellyfish were constantly gathering, and it seemed that the larger the group, the more successful their reproductive exchange.

"Stop standing there like idiots, get to work!"

The experienced boatmen, with their hunting experience, knew this was a normal breeding behavior, while the new boatmen were still dumbfounded. This was all money; they could exchange it for cash as soon as they caught it. Soon, everyone joined in, putting the Tianji ship into fishing mode.
Although the spare fishing gear is not as handy as professional fishing tools and its efficiency is certainly not as good as others, the advantage of the Tianji ship is that there are enough people. Three hundred boatmen are equivalent to several large demon-hunting ships.

"Shopkeeper, aren't we a merchant ship? What's the point of catching these worthless jellyfish? Isn't it just a waste of time?"

Some of the crew members were busy with their hands and feet, but they didn't understand why the captain had asked them to collect jellyfish. This was a job for the demon-hunting ships, and it was clearly not something that most of the crew members were suited for.

"You don't understand, do you? Senior Lin is incredibly skilled. Look over there, what do those hundreds of demon-hunting ships look like?"

"What does it resemble? It's a Tier 2 monster-hunting ship!"

"Doesn't it look like a moving mid-grade spirit stone?"

"Huh?! You know what, so they were the targets all along!"

"Indeed! The real target is them!"

The Tianji ship made an emergency stop and immediately notified the passengers in the cabins about the blue-blooded jellyfish tide. They had the right to know and choose to be informed.
Visitors can choose to observe from the deck or join the fishing themselves. The Tianji vessel will buy back the catch at a fair price, or visitors can keep the catch for themselves.

The passengers aboard the Tianji ferry may have various purposes, but they were all informed upon boarding that the ship would stop and start frequently, and that they were not in a hurry, so they naturally didn't complain about the stops. "This is the tide? How fascinating! I'd like to try it too!"

Not every cultivator is familiar with maritime affairs. On the contrary, even those from island backgrounds often lack experience in sea hunting. The Tianji Wheel can provide them with free fishing gear to enhance their recreational experience and prevent the journey from becoming tedious.

Night fell quickly.

The blue-blooded jellyfish became more active, and naturally more dangerous. As night fell, some of the monster-hunting ships began to rest to reduce the risk.

Toot~
Just as Lin Qianfan had initially predicted, a demon-hunting ship that had gone to the Fengying to collect goods from the fresh ship turned around and approached the Tianji Wheel. As their ships touched, dozens of passengers immediately boarded the other ship.

This is why Tianji Wheel chose to stop here temporarily; these hundreds of demon-hunting ships are its target customers!
In comparison, the second-tier demon-hunting ships have a much broader range of knowledge. They understand the operating model of merchant ships like the Tianji Wheel and know that the ships carry rare goods from other places, so they take the initiative to seize business opportunities.

Tianji Wheel also stopped jellyfish collecting, as that was just for fun anyway. Instead, it focused on warmly welcoming customers and making sure to take all the cash they brought. With one side sincerely buying and the other sincerely selling, business was naturally very easy.

With the first ship, the second ship came quickly, and other monster-hunting ships followed suit, first delivering goods to the Fengying, then coming to the Tianji to consume, making a profit by bringing the merchant ship's goods back to their homeland, and also catching blue-blooded jellyfish.

Since each demon-hunting ship has a Foundation Establishment captain, and Foundation Establishment cultivators conduct their transactions in private, but the Tianji Wheel has limited capacity to accommodate Foundation Establishment cultivators, queues even formed late at night.

By the next morning,

The blue-blooded jellyfish had worked all night, constantly discharging electricity, which reduced their aggression, while the Qi-refining ship crews on each of the demon-hunting ships had gotten a good rest. Therefore, the demon-hunting fleet continued its fishing operations.
At this point, a small portion of the demon-hunting ships in the fleet had not yet reached the Tianji Wheel to complete the transaction. The remaining ships were clearly much more discreet, diligently fishing for jellyfish, and no one approached them.

How can this work?

Wouldn't that delay the time of the Tianji Wheel?
time is money!

After assessing the risks and considering all factors, the Third Elder took the initiative to contact the fake Dan on the Fengying Ship and invited him to have tea at the Tianji Wheel. The other party initially declined, but came after repeated invitations.

Toot~
Not only did the other side send people, but they also brought their ships.
The fact that the two large ships were so close together should have been a dangerous act, but both ships were economical vessels, and both were staffed by cultivators who had achieved the rank of Pseudo-Core Formation. In terms of strength, Tianji Lun was even slightly stronger, so the risk was not great.

"I am Wu Jiu of Xuanyuan Sea Pavilion. I have long heard of the prestigious Lin family of the Fish and Dragon Islands. I have only met the two noble fellow Daoists, Lin Naiying and Lin Dashan, before. May I ask your name?"

A fake Core Formation cultivator with an ugly scar on his face took the initiative to fly out of the cabin and pay a respectful visit to Tianji Wheel.

"I am Lin Dajian, Fellow Daoist Wu, please!"

The Third Elder personally flew out to greet them and returned the greeting with the same courtesy.

This was the first time a guest at the Pseudo-Core Formation Realm had ever been on the Tianji Wheel. Although there was a certain risk in having such an expert on board, and they needed to be treated with care, especially since the Xuan Yuan Sea Pavilion was not a long-established family force, but a newly formed force by a rogue Golden Core cultivator from the outer sea, their presence was a significant event.
However, in business, one should welcome customers from all directions and not judge a book by its cover. Moreover, since the other party mentioned the names of the other two fake Dan elders of the Lin family, they must have had some interaction with them. This can be used as a starting point to start a conversation and build rapport.

The two then chatted for half an hour in the open-air restaurant on the second deck. It's unclear what they discussed, but Wu Jiu left with a smile, suggesting that both host and guest had a pleasant time.
Then, the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators on the Fengying ship took the initiative to board the Tianji Wheel to make purchases.

Golden Core cultivators also have trading needs, especially smaller Golden Core cultivators. After confirming the reliability of the Heavenly Pivot Wheel, they also need to spend their cash to exchange for in-demand goods.

However, since they needed to keep some cash for the fresh produce, they also disposed of some local supplies for the Tianji Wheel, and even invited the Tianji Wheel to dock at Xuanyuan Island, where the Xuanyuan Sea Pavilion is located.

However, the Third Elder declined the invitation first, stating that he had already contacted the Wenren family of Haiyue Bay and would go to Haiyue Bay first. As for whether he could go to Xuanyuan Island later, it would depend on the specific schedule. He would send a message to the other party regardless of whether he could go or not.

After the Fengying cargo ship left, the remaining demon-hunting ships that had not yet completed their transactions all approached proactively, no longer worrying about whether it was day or night, fearing that they would miss out on buying goods.

It turns out that those daring demon-hunting ships from last night weren't really related to the Xuan Yuan Sea Pavilion, and they also had Golden Core cultivators backing them. So, their deliberate approach to the Tianji Wheel wasn't a big deal.
However, the remaining ships either came from Foundation Establishment forces and had no powerful backers, or they were already working for the Xuan Yuan Sea Pavilion. They needed to maintain consistency with the Feng Ying's external stance.

Only after the Fengying made a clear statement did they dare to actively purchase the exotic goods from this "sea peddler".

Nearly a hundred demon-hunting ships, hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators, and thousands of Qi Refining cultivators participated. The transaction volume was not small, as they all came with the intention of selling goods. However, the actual profit was not particularly large.
Because they generally don't have much cash on them and rarely sell goods, they are far less likely to make a deal with the Foundation Establishment families on Yundu Island.

The only advantage is the short stay; in less than two days, more than 10% of the goods were sold, which is not bad.

The next morning, the Tianji ship, having completed the transaction, set sail again, without staying to continue fishing for blue-blooded jellyfish. Although this was a decent profit, it was nothing compared to the large-scale transactions.

Moreover, most of the three hundred boatmen were not from the Lin family; the prey they caught belonged to them. Therefore, the Tianji ship could not possibly stop for such a small tide unless it really encountered a high-return, risk-free business opportunity.

It's worth mentioning that all the catches from the hundreds of Qi Refining cultivators on the Tianji Wheel in the past two days were sold to the Fengying Ship in bulk, and they didn't make a single penny of profit from it; they paid it the freshest price.

Toot~
Although the Tianji Wheel is a Tier 3 ship, it only has one Spirit Source Well, which simultaneously powers multiple systems. Furthermore, the Tianji Wheel is relatively large and heavy, so its speed is not very fast, only a few times faster than a large demon-hunting ship.

This results in a significant portion of the time spent traveling, sometimes exceeding one-third of the total travel time.

(End of this chapter)