"Heavens above!
A guqin worth tens of millions of Immortal Stones..." Qiānniǎo seemed utterly stunned, her mind filled with the staggering sum of tens of millions.
"Little Sister Qiānniǎo, just now Liu Li mentioned that a Wind-Return Guqin from the Ancient Era was auctioned for tens of millions of Immortal Stones a long, long time ago. If a Wind-Return Guqin from the Ancient Era were to be auctioned now... its value would absolutely not be limited to tens of millions. It could be thirty or fifty million, perhaps even more."
Xuan Yun's words left Qiānniǎo, already dizzy from the thought of tens of millions, completely blank-minded. She murmured in a daze, "Thirty or fifty million... perhaps even more... My heavens!"
Unable to contain herself any longer, Qiānniǎo ran to Qiānlíng's side, saying excitedly, "Sister Ling'er, did you hear that? Your guqin is worth at least thirty or fifty million! If we sold it, we'd be rich!"
Qiānlíng sighed helplessly. "You little girl, always thinking about getting rich. I should just rename you 'Little Money-Grubber'."
Liu Li said, "Little Sister Qiānniǎo, why would you want to sell such a fine guqin? The Wind-Return Guqin is something many Guqin Immortals dream of possessing. Many of our senior elders in the Lotus Secret Realm, including Senior Brother Xuan Yun, have always wanted to own a Wind-Return Guqin. But they are simply too rare. Even if you offer a high price, no one is willing to sell."
Xuan Yun also chimed in, "Indeed, the Wind-Return Guqin is exceedingly rare and has great potential for appreciation. It's very much worth collecting. Its value is simply immeasurable in terms of Immortal Stones. Most importantly, the reason it's called 'Wind-Return' is because its sound is unique, profoundly mysterious, like a cycle within the wind—truly wondrous. That's the real reason why so many Guqin Immortals covet it."
"But... thirty or fifty million is really a lot of Immortal Stones..." Qiānniǎo truly was a little money-grubber. Her greatest dream was to possess endless Immortal Stones. In her lifetime, she hadn't even seen what a pile of a million, let alone ten million or thirty to fifty million Immortal Stones, looked like.
"Little Sister Qiānniǎo, you really... Thirty or fifty million sounds like a lot, but when you actually spend it, it's not that much."
Liu Li laughed. "Nowadays, an entry-grade Immortal Weapon artifact on the market costs around six million Immortal Stones. Even if you only buy one, the Immortal Stones spent annually on tempering that artifact are countless. Any remaining stones wouldn't last long..."
"Hey, Sister Liu Li, don't say that. I'm not as wealthy as you all. Thirty or fifty million might be nothing to you, but to me... it's simply more than I could ever imagine. I've never even dreamed of that many Immortal Stones."
Liu Li said helplessly, "This isn't about being wealthy or not. In the future, when you have your own Fortune and need to temper it, you'll understand that thirty or fifty million flows away like water."
Everyone's family background, cultivation Fortune, experiences, and knowledge differed, so naturally their perspectives varied.
Someone like Qiānniǎo, with only Golden Immortal cultivation and no Fortune, aside from her cultivation needs, spent the most on tempering her own semi-finished Immortal Weapon. Over a year, she actually didn't spend much. The twenty or thirty thousand Immortal Stones she earned annually were more than enough to cover her expenses, with some left over.
However, people like Xuan Yun and Liu Li were different.
Each of them possessed two Fortunes, plus two or three Immortal Weapon artifacts, all of graded quality. Just the annual cost of tempering these Fortunes and artifacts was around several million Immortal Stones, often more. And that was only the necessary expenditure. Adding their daily expenses made the sum even more staggering.
It must be understood that they came from wealthy backgrounds and were accustomed to lavish daily spending. A feast like today's, costing over ten thousand, was a luxury to Qiānniǎo but utterly ordinary and not worth mentioning to them.
Beside them, Gu Qingfeng poured himself another drink, watching them with a sigh of emotion.
In the Ancient Era, although resources were scarce and survival difficult, at least everyone advanced step by step. Once you endured to become an Immortal, you were basically set—respected in the mortal world. Even in the Great Desolate, all Immortals had endured bitter cultivation; no one was much better off than anyone else. Whoever could seize resources did so by their own ability, and the wealth gap wasn't too vast.
But now?
You didn't need to endure to become an Immortal anymore.
Basically, you were born an Immortal.
After all, the Present-Ancient Era had been open for ten thousand years. The resources of the greater world were either monopolized or controlled.
Differences in family background destined differences in fate. The poor would only grow poorer, the rich only richer—the poor dying in poverty, the rich dying in wealth.
Immortals without family background were doomed to struggle bitterly for survival.
As Gu Qingfeng was sighing with emotion, the sound of a guqin suddenly arose.
Gu Qingfeng held his wine cup, crossed his legs, shifted his posture, and looked over to find that Qiānlíng within the gathering had begun to play.
The music entered his ears, truly like a gentle breeze wafting over, accompanied by the melody echoing and lingering in his mind.
The moment the music started, Gu Qingfeng's eyebrows raised slightly. Qiānlíng's attainment in the realm of musical arts surprised him quite a bit. Although he didn't know when she had begun studying music, it probably wasn't very long, given that her cultivation journey spanned only over forty years. Even if she were a 'latecomer' to music, if she had been diligently studying it for these forty-odd years and achieved such attainment, her talent was certainly remarkable.
Whether it was the flexible application of various fingering techniques, the profundity of different tonal spiritual formulas, or the artistic conception of various melodies—all were extraordinary.
Closing his eyes, Gu Qingfeng listened carefully to the piece Qiānlíng was playing.
The melody was beautiful, dreamlike and illusory. Immersed in it, it gave one a very wondrous feeling.
Not only did Gu Qingfeng feel this way, but everyone present—Xuan Yun, Liu Li, Qiānniǎo, and the others—were the same. Each was affected by Qiānlíng's music, immersed in it as if entering a dream. In the dream, they were like cheerful butterflies dancing freely in the air, leaping over layer upon layer of mountains, strand after strand of rivers and seas, patch upon patch of forests...
Just flying like that, continuously flying.
That feeling of freedom and ease was immensely yearning.
As the piece ended, everyone seemed still immersed, unable to extricate themselves, and unable to have enough of it.
"Wow! What a Mei Miao feeling... Really... so makes Human Yearning..." Liu Li asked in amazement, "Sister Ling'er, what piece were you playing?"
"It's a piece I composed not long ago."
"For Immortal Lady Qiānlíng to compose such a Mei Miao melody truly commands my utmost admiration!" Xuan Yun praised. "May I ask the name of this piece?"
"It doesn't have a name yet."
"If it lacks a name, though I am untalented, I dare to suggest naming this piece 'Yearning'. What does Immortal Lady Qiānlíng think?"
"Yearning? That's a good name!" Both Liu Li and Qiānlíng felt that 'Yearning' suited the piece's artistic conception well.
"Yearning?" Qiānlíng murmured, sank into contemplation.
"Just now, after listening to the piece, I was deeply moved. Based on the artistic conception the melody expressed, I thought of the words 'Yearning'. If the Immortal Lady is unsatisfied, please do not mind."
"Young Master Xuan Yun misunderstands. I am not unsatisfied. I just..." Qiānlíng shook her head slightly. "I just... don't really know what artistic conception I intended to express when I composed this piece."
"Sister Ling'er, this is your own composition. How can you not know the artistic conception within the music?"
"I... truly don't know..."
At that moment, a lazy voice came: "Since you don't know, then call it 'Wandering'."
The words 'Wandering' struck Qiānlíng's heart like a tremor. She stared at that unremarkable-looking fellow who was pouring his own drink with an incredulous gaze, as if she had found a kindred spirit.