He had originally planned to head to the so-called Evernight Palace for some flower wine and a bit of fun, but unfortunately, the palace wasn't open yet.
Since that was the case, Gu Qingfeng wasn't in a hurry either. He asked, "Aside from the Evernight Palace, where else in Fengyue Small World can one find some entertainment?"
"This..." Horse King thought hard for a moment but truly couldn't think of any other places. He said awkwardly, "Great Old Master, asking me about finding entertainment is like playing the lute to a cow. I rarely seek out fun. When I have free time, I just like to go to the Gambling City to play a couple of hands. As for other places, I haven't really been."
Finding entertainment was the kind of activity typically pursued by well-to-do young masters; only they had that kind of leisure and inclination.
After all, in Fengyue Small World, even standing still cost a fair number of Immortal Stones each day.
For someone like Horse King, born into poverty, aside from trying to win big with small stakes at the Gambling City, they neither had the mood nor the financial means to seek entertainment elsewhere.
"What kind of situation is this? I have a full eighteen billion Immortal Stones in my hand, and now I want to splurge, but it seems I don't even know where to go to splurge."
Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin, somewhat troubled. This feeling of having money but nowhere to spend it—thinking about it was truly quite pathetic.
"Great Old Master, wanting to splurge isn't that hard. Although I'm not familiar with Fengyue Small World, others are. We can just ask someone. But, aside from listening to tunes and drinking flower wine, what other kind of fun are you looking for?"
"What kind of fun?"
Horse King's question truly stumped Gu Qingfeng.
He thought for a long while and suddenly realized that aside from enjoying a few tunes and some flower wine, he seemed to have no other hobbies.
"Dammit!"
Gu Qingfeng cursed, then said, "I thought having money with nowhere to spend it was pathetic enough, but now I realize something even more pathetic: having this much money and not even knowing how to spend it."
As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but sigh. "After living all these years, this is the first time I've realized that my life has been rather dull. Aside from listening to a few tunes and drinking a little wine, I... dammit, have no other hobbies."
Gu Qingfeng had always felt that throughout his life, even though most of his time had been spent fighting and killing, it had still been somewhat exciting and could barely be called tumultuous. He believed he hadn't lived his life in vain; it was worth it.
But until that very moment, when he held eighteen billion Immortal Stones yet didn't know how to splurge or where to splurge, he realized how pathetic his life had been.
What use was an exciting life?
What use was a tumultuous life?
In the end, he didn't even have a damn hobby? Didn't even know how to find some damn fun?
Wasn't that pathetic?
Could anything be more pathetic than this?
In the past, he lived for survival.
Later, he lived for karma.
Throughout this life, he had either lived for survival or for karma. Had there been a single day he lived for himself?
This wasn't something to ponder deeply; the more one thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
"I lived for survival before, and later for karma. Shouldn't it be my turn to live for myself at least once?"
But if he were to live for himself...
How exactly should that be done?
Gu Qingfeng truly didn't know the answer to this seemingly incredibly simple question.
He shook his head.
He didn't continue dwelling on it and asked, "Old Ma, if it were you, what would you do if you won eighteen billion?"
"That goes without saying. Of course, I'd stash it away and find a place to lay low for a while."
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He chuckled and scolded, "Can't you have a bit more ambition?
When you have no money, you act like a coward. When you have money, you still act like a damn coward."
Compared to Gu Qingfeng, Horse King was even more torn between laughter and tears. He replied, "Great Old Master, this isn't about acting like a coward or not. The world is so chaotic; even if you have money, you need to be alive to spend it. Preserving one's life is the most important thing."
"Cut the crap. Let's not talk about life for now. Just tell me directly, how would you spend it?"
"How to spend it?"
Horse King furrowed his brow, scratching his head vigorously. He pondered left and right but ultimately shook his head. "Great Old Master, to be honest, I'm poor. Trace back eight generations, still poor. The most I've ever had on hand is a few hundred thousand Immortal Stones. Forget eighteen billion, even eighty million, or even eight million—I wouldn't know how to spend it. Been poor for too long, never seen so much money. How would I know how to spend it?"
"Convinced. I'm truly convinced."
Gu Qingfeng stopped walking and sat down by the side of the street, massaging his forehead with a feeling of wanting to cry but having no tears. He said, "Speaking of which, back in the day, I was someone who could ascend to heaven and descend to earth, someone who went head-to-head with the Three Thousand Great Dao. How the hell have I fallen to this state now? Not even knowing how to spend damn money when I have it. Isn't this just too damn ironic?"
This wasn't the first time Horse King had heard Gu Qingfeng talk about ascending to heaven, descending to earth, and clashing with the Three Thousand Great Dao. At first, he thought Gu Qingfeng was boasting. Now, he figured it wasn't boasting but joking, so he didn't take it to heart. Seeing Gu Qingfeng sitting dejectedly by the roadside, Horse King walked over to comfort him.
"Great Old Master, after all, this is a massive sum of eighteen billion, not a small amount...
If it were just a few hundred thousand, I might know how to splurge, but eighteen billion..."
Gu Qingfeng was already too lazy to listen to Horse King's rambling. He cut him off directly and asked, "Then, if it were a small amount, say just a few hundred thousand or a million, how would you spend it?"
"A few hundred thousand? Spending that is too easy."
"How so?
What kind of fun would you look for?"
"Look for fun?
No, I wouldn't go looking for fun. Having fun might feel great at the moment, but afterward, you'd feel like you wasted it."
"If not for fun, then how would you spend it?"
"Great Old Master, how could you forget?"
"Forget what?"
"This is Fengyue Small World, hailed as the largest trading hub in the Twin-Polar Celestial Domain. There are countless resources here."
Gu Qingfeng grew more and more confused. "So what?"
"So what?
Of course, you buy various cultivation resources."
"I don't cultivate. Why the hell would I buy resources?"
Just now, Horse King's words had stunned Gu Qingfeng. Now, Gu Qingfeng's words stunned Horse King in turn.
Among all those seeking the Great Dao, no one lacked resources.
Everyone lacked them. No matter how wealthy someone was, resources would never be enough.
Horse King had never heard anyone say they didn't lack resources. This was the first time.
He opened his mouth, intending to refute Gu Qingfeng, but the words stuck in his throat. He truly didn't know how to refute him.
Moreover, upon careful thought, what Gu Qingfeng said made perfect sense.
If you cultivate, you lack resources. That's normal.
But if someone doesn't cultivate, naturally they don't need resources. If they don't need resources, why buy them?
Actually,
Horse King didn't know.
Not only did Gu Qingfeng not cultivate now, but even when he did cultivate, he had never worried about resources.
Back in the day, every time Gu Qingfeng got into a fight, he would gain a lot of resources. Robbing a spirit altar, digging up a spirit vein, opening a spirit river—these were all trivial matters. Resources were plentiful.
But that wasn't important.
What was important was that ever since Gu Qingfeng began cultivating, he had never relied on any external resources, nor did he need any. All his enlightenment came from his own comprehension. The resources he seized he never used; he either threw them away, lost them, or distributed them to others.
This was the fundamental reason why Gu Qingfeng, now holding eighteen billion Immortal Stones, didn't know how to splurge.
Because throughout his cultivation journey, he had never lacked any resources, never needed any resources, and naturally never spent money to buy them. Therefore, the concept of 'spending money' simply didn't exist in his life's dictionary.