The sound of breathing was growing shallow. Each breath lighter than the last.
The rise and fall of her chest was growing smaller.
The last golden leaf in the cultivation tank dimmed, turning into a dry gray-brown.
Su Li held her hand and did not move.
The sea wind came in through the window, stirring the silver hair spread over her pillow. The gray-white strands threaded through that silver hair were like shattered ice in the morning light.
Her breathing stopped.
He kept holding on.
Outside the window, the color of the horizon changed from deep blue to pale blue, then from pale blue to orange-yellow. The sunrise dyed the whole sea a color like molten gold. Light fell on her face, on her closed eyes.
Su Li let go of her hand after sunrise.
He stood, pulled the blanket smooth, and tucked her scattered hair behind her ear.
Then he opened his Space Ring and put away the stack of Acquired Spiritual Root Hypothesis that was thicker than three bricks.
He lowered his head and glanced at his wrist.
A gray, translucent panel floated above his skin. Three lines of text. Three names. Three identical evaluations.
Unforgettable.
The Silverwood coffin took two days.
Su Li did not use fifth-tier Aether to speed it up. He cut it down stroke by stroke, planed it side by side, and wood shavings fell all over the ground. Silverwood had a fine grain, and when planed open, it gave off a faint grassy fragrance. Saina's coffin had smelled like this. So had Elena's.
On the morning of the third day, he lifted Elonore into the coffin.
The acorn wood box was placed by her right hand. The old hammer that had been with her for more than a hundred years was placed by