Eternal Life: I Can Sell Everything

On Yanduan Mountain, the west wind soughed.

Song Ciwan built a fire and roasted a rabbit, all while chatting idly with the Big White Goose.

It was idle chatter, but it was also a lesson in the Dao.

Using the simplest, most common language, she explained the various classic and profound principles from the Celestial Demon Suppression Record to the Big White Goose.

The fire burned in the mountain wind, letting out the occasional CRACKLE, as insects and birds chirped in the distance.

The Big White Goose squatted by Song Ciwan’s side, its warm body pressed tightly against her. It turned its head to listen intently, its black-bean-like eyes not blinking once, utterly focused.

Occasionally, it would respond to Song Ciwan with a "HONK HONK HONK." When it honked like that, it meant it understood. If it let out a "HAAAWNK HAAAWNK," it hadn’t understood and was asking Song Ciwan to explain again.

Song Ciwan had formed a contract with the Big White Goose using the Spirit Nurturing Technique, making it her Spirit Pet. As the Big White Goose’s spirituality grew, Song Ciwan could now understand the meaning behind all its cries.

The human and the goose, in their back-and-forth exchange, shared a harmonious rapport amidst the ink-wash mountains.

The mountain wind was cool, and the sky was a tranquil, pale cyan. The fire flickered, leaning in the wind, and the rabbit on the spit was roasted until its fat began to drip.

SIZZLE. A drop of fat fell, and a lick of flame shot upward.

The Big White Goose let out a startled HONK. It had been listening so intently that the small flare-up had startled it.

Just then, snowflakes suddenly began to drift down from the sky.

The snowflakes, fluffy and light like willow catkins, fell sparsely at first.

A few flakes landed on the fire, causing the flames to shrink back slightly, only to flare up again a moment later.

These few scattered flakes obviously couldn’t extinguish the fire. In the cold wind, the snow fell as the fire burned, and a mist that was neither crisp nor damp, but somewhere in between, rose into the air.

The Big White Goose hurriedly stretched out a wing, wanting to shield the fire from the wind and snow.

But in its current form, it was too small to block anything.

So with a POOF, it channeled its Demonic Power and transformed itself back into a giant goose!

The giant goose had a wingspan of five zhang. With one spread of its wings, it not only shielded the fire but also sheltered Song Ciwan completely beneath them.

Beneath the goose’s wing, the fire glowed orange-red, and the roasting rabbit continued to sizzle. The wind was gone, the snow had vanished. There was only the warmth of the firewood and the savory aroma of meat.

Song Ciwan, sitting by the fire, began to laugh.

Seeing her laugh, the Big White Goose was greatly encouraged.

It raised its neck and trumpeted proudly, "HAAAWNK HAAAWNK HAAAWNK!"

’Wanwan teaches the Dao, and I block the snow. I’m a proper guardian goose!’

Song Ciwan laughed. "Spiritual, yet with substance; void, yet without form. Big White Goose, you’ve crossed the threshold."

The Big White Goose cried out joyfully, its wings still holding steady to shelter Song Ciwan. Abundant Qi Blood circulated through its body, generating vibrant strands of Demonic Power.

Song Ciwan said, "Big White Goose, they say water overcomes fire. Do you know why the fire wasn’t extinguished when the snow fell on it just now?"

The Big White Goose let out a dopey "GAK GAK," tilting its head in thought. Then, it cried, "HONK HONK HONK!"

’Because the snowflakes are small! How could tiny snowflakes put out such a big fire?’

’The principle is so simple, even I can understand it!’

The Big White Goose grew excited. Song Ciwan was always teaching it, but it could usually never answer any of her questions. This was the first time it had been able to respond to her question so simply, directly, and clearly.

It was like a slow student who was always saying, ’I don’t know,’ suddenly having a breakthrough and finally being able to answer a teacher’s question with confidence—

The teacher was so gentle, and the student adored her, so the student would feel guilty for always being unable to answer her questions.

Now that it could finally answer one, the Big White Goose couldn’t contain its excitement.

It let out a series of "HONK HONK HONKs," then flapped a wing—and disaster struck. A great gust of wind was kicked up.

To Song Ciwan, this bit of wind was nothing. Not to mention her being in the Divinity Transformation Stage, just based on her level of Body Refining, she had long since reached a state of being impervious to heat and cold.

But for an ordinary campfire, this same wind was a crushing blow.

WHOOSH. The fire, which had been blazing fiercely, was instantly blown out by the gale.

The Big White Goose was stunned. It let out a "HAAAWNK" and flapped its wing again. This time, it hit a small nearby tree. CRACK. The tree’s branch snapped.

The Big White Goose: "HAAAWNK—!"

The cry was so loud and mournful, anyone who didn’t know better would think its master, Song Ciwan, was abusing a Spirit Beast.

Frantic, the Big White Goose hopped on its feet and, with a POOF POOF POOF, shrank its body. It returned to the size of a normal domestic goose and then scrambled into Song Ciwan’s arms.

The Big White Goose cried "GAK GAK," almost in tears.

Song Ciwan hugged the goose, gently stroking its neck to soothe it as she laughed. "What’s this? You blew out the fire. Are you afraid I’m going to scold you?"

Big White Goose: "HAAAWNK HAAAWNK HAAAWNK!"

’Wanwan, I’m sorry.’

The Big White Goose lowered its long neck. Song Ciwan chuckled. "If I actually cared about this fire, a wind ten times stronger than yours wouldn’t have been able to blow it out."

She explained leisurely, "Look. Water overcomes fire, but a few snowflakes can’t extinguish a burning fire. In fact, scattered snowflakes will be instantly vaporized by the flames. When you look at it that way, does water still overcome fire?"

The Big White Goose raised its neck and shook its head.

Song Ciwan said, "At that point, it’s as if fire is overcoming water, isn’t it?"

The Big White Goose immediately nodded.

Song Ciwan continued, "Just now, the strong wind instantly blew out the flame. From this, it seems that wind overcomes fire. Would you agree?"

The Big White Goose nodded again at once. It wasn’t just nodding its head; its entire body seemed to bob in agreement, showing just how much it agreed with Song Ciwan’s words.

Song Ciwan smiled. "Then try blowing some more wind. A small breeze, a gentle one... Here, blow right where these little embers are."

She patted the goose’s back, guiding it to a dry twig at the bottom of the fire pit that still glowed faintly red.

It was a residual ember, still clinging to the twig, not yet completely extinguished.

The Big White Goose immediately bent down, its round body jutting out behind it. Then it opened its beak and began to blow a gentle WHOOSH of air.

The posture was actually quite ridiculous at first glance, and a goose blowing wind from its beak was a very strange sight. But as it did so, a faint breeze truly did emerge from the Big White Goose’s flat beak.

Once again, it had done something a normal domestic goose could never do!

For the current Big White Goose, kicking up a gale was not difficult at all. The real challenge was producing a soft, gentle breeze like this.

It would blow for a moment, then let out a cry. WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH. As the gentle breeze blew, the red glow on the twig would sometimes flare up slightly, and other times, with a WHOOSH, it would shrink back.

Big White Goose: ...

’What kind of new principle is this? Why is it happening?’

It turned its neck and cried, "GAK GAK."

’Wanwan, should I keep blowing? For how long? How hard?’

It was like a child, thirsty for knowledge, seeking answers to every question from its master, teacher, and parent all in one.

It looked clumsy and silly, but it was also exceptionally cute.

Song Ciwan smiled, just about to speak. But at that moment, a figure suddenly appeared from behind the broken tree trunk.

The woman had white clothes and black hair, snow-white skin and red lips. She spoke coolly, "The fire is out. Why bother blowing on it? Wouldn’t it be easier to just light it again?"