Chapter 62: Fishing for Luck Under the Sea

The documentary explored Earth's natural hidden realms, and the very first episode delved into the world's deepest point: the Mariana Trench. The camera descended steadily from the water's surface, plunging deeper and deeper.

It revealed the wondrous phenomena and bizarre deep-sea creatures discovered in this unfathomable abyss. For instance, there was the ancient snailfish, capable of withstanding water pressure at 8,143 meters deep—equivalent to sixteen hundred elephants standing atop it. There was also the ghostly white Mariana trench lionfish, whose muscles exist in a state between liquid and solid. This peculiar fish can balance the pressure of its internal fluids with the surrounding seawater, achieving an uncanny equilibrium so that it isn’t crushed flat by the crushing depths.

While soaking his feet, Chen Jue watched with fascination, marveling at the mystery and adaptability of Earth’s creatures, while also feeling a sense of sorrow for the “insignificance” and “frailty” of his own body.

If he were to dive into the Mariana Trench, he reckoned he wouldn’t even make it two hundred meters before the water pressure shattered his eardrums.

“Unless I practiced some martial art that could automatically seal my ears, perhaps that would solve the problem,” he mused.

“And it’s pitch black below a thousand meters. I’d have to train my eyes for night vision as well.”

“I’d also need to hold my breath for ages, strengthen my body to resist the pressure, and keep my lungs from being crushed by the water.” As he watched, Chen Jue imagined himself venturing into these depths.

He watched for more than an hour, finishing the entire episode about the trench’s mysteries. Only then did he switch off the television, letting his thoughts wander as he ascended to the rooftop. Standing in the night breeze, he gazed out at the dark sea, where waves ceaselessly crashed against the shore.

On the rooftops of neighboring villas, open-air barbeque parties were in full swing—laughter and merriment, card games, boisterous shouts, and mobile gaming battles. It was the last wild celebration before the end of summer break.

In stark contrast, Chen Jue stood alone by the railing, his eyes fixed on the black ocean occasionally dotted with the lights of distant ships. Sometimes he looked up at the mysterious night sky, pondering profound questions of life and the universe—questions without clear answers.

Compared to the neighboring villas’ lively scenes, his solitude was all the more apparent.

“What is the meaning of life?” he wondered.

“How many secrets does the ocean’s abyss hold?”

“If my attributes were strong enough, could I, relying only on martial arts and no equipment, walk ten thousand meters down to the seafloor?”

“What lies beyond Earth?”

“Will I ever stand on the moon?”

“If I could seal my pores, master internal force, and boost my attributes enough, what would happen if I ventured into outer space without a spacesuit?” Countless strange and whimsical thoughts flickered through Chen Jue’s mind.

At that moment, he was like a solitary seeker on the path, walking alone with no one to guide or question him.

...

After savoring the sea breeze on the rooftop for a long while, Chen Jue set aside his outlandish musings. After all, even ancient sages and modern scientists have yet to answer all the riddles of life and the cosmos, so he decided not to trouble himself for now.

“Time to keep raising my attributes! More points!”

“I’ll max out my stats. Eventually, I’ll uncover all the secrets of this world!” An unshakable confidence welled up inside him, from he knew not where.

If before, he was just an ordinary fellow occasionally showing off his newfound attribute panel and enjoying a sense of superiority, now he had discovered a deeper purpose—to seek and explore the higher meanings of existence.

It was a small transformation of the spirit; for the first time, Chen Jue had posed a question to nature and the universe—one that only he could ask, tailored to his unique circumstances.

What he didn’t realize was these whimsical questions sprang from humanity’s innate thirst for knowledge.

Everyone is born with it, but the petty distractions of life gradually diminish the curiosity we feel as children.

Work, study, life, age, societal and family pressures, ethics—all these things bind the mind, solidifying habits of thought and action.

Chen Jue had simply reclaimed that curiosity, and for an “ordinary person,” this alone was remarkable.

...

He returned to his room and slept soundly through the night.

The hot foot soak had been especially effective, and combined with the full benefit of his “Child’s Skill” buff, Chen Jue sprang out of bed the moment he opened his eyes.

After washing and brushing his teeth, he glanced at his increasingly healthy reflection, encouraged himself, and before dawn broke, changed into swim trunks and goggles and hurried to the rocky shore.

He found the stone sphere he had wedged in a crevice the day before and let out a breath. “Good thing no fisherman took it,” he murmured.

Then he picked up the stone sphere, looked around to make sure he was alone, and dove into the sea to continue his training.

Today, he intended to focus and break through both his Tai Chi form and the Thirteen Postures stance skill to at least level three. These arts were crucial for mastering internal force throughout his body, and might even grant him more free attribute points—so he was especially eager to level up.

But after only ten minutes of underwater practice, Chen Jue saw several large sea fish swimming toward him from afar.

He noticed them only because, in the dim light, he saw their golden scales gleaming beneath the water.

Though visibility was low, his newly transformed eyes could see everything with perfect clarity.

“What the—!”

“Are those… wild large yellow croakers?”

Excitement replacing his focus, Chen Jue placed the stone sphere in the sand at the bottom and steadied himself against it with his feet so the current wouldn’t sweep him away.

He was at a depth of thirty to forty meters, still within reach of sunlight. It wasn’t strange to see fish up close—but these weren’t just any fish. These were the wild yellow croakers, called “gold of the sea” along the coast!

Though not as rare or valuable as the endangered giant yellow croaker, they still fetched thousands per kilo and were highly prized.

In his field of vision, three golden-scaled croakers swam by—two small and one large. The biggest was at least a meter long, the smaller two about half a meter each.

“Just when I was running low on cash, the heavens send me a windfall?” The absurd thought flitted through his mind. As the three croakers drew within four or five meters, he braced himself, pushed off the stone sphere with both legs, and shot forward like an arrow. In a flash, his hands seized the tail of the largest fish.