Chapter Summaries

Su Li and Saina settled into a quieter family life with Elena and the children while the Ginkgo’s propulsion core continued to develop. After Talia detected that the core had reacted to a child, Su Li ordered the finding kept secret, and that night the core briefly formed the image of a ginkgo leaf.

• Su Li made two silver tags engraved with ginkgo leaves, and Elena began a ledger for the children’s expenses.
• Saina cared for the children while Elena reduced her royal duties, and Elonore entertained the children with magic.
• Su Li inspected the Ginkgo’s propulsion core, and Talia reported that it had reacted when a child came aboard.
• Su Li told Talia to seal the record and keep the core’s response secret until the child grew up.
• Saina told Su Li she wanted to wait until Stone could walk and speak before taking a family voyage, and Su Li agreed to take their time.
• That night, the Ginkgo’s core briefly lit up and formed a ginkgo leaf like the ones engraved on the silver tags.

Su Li gave Little Stone and Elena’s daughter silver badges, while Elena continued searching for a name for her daughter. Later, Talia reported an unusual fluctuation in the Ginkgo’s propulsion core, and Elonore unveiled a miniature levitation device for the children.

• Su Li gave Little Stone and Elena’s daughter silver badges decorated with ginkgo leaves, and Elena said she had not chosen her daughter’s name.
• At breakfast, Elonore said the Temperature-Controlled Field circuits were working normally, while Saina worried that the cabbage might have frozen overnight.
• Talia told Su Li that the Ginkgo’s propulsion core had briefly produced an unfamiliar resonance, and Su Li told her to leave it alone.
• Elonore showed Su Li a miniature levitation device made with a wind crystal, and Little Stone eagerly grabbed the glowing sphere.

Saina confronted the signs of aging while Su Li remained unchanged, and he comforted her by combing her white-streaked hair. At dinner, Little Stone announced he wanted to travel to the Far North, and Su Li and Saina agreed to let him go.

• Saina found another white hair and studied the signs of aging in her reflection, comparing herself with the unchanged Su Li and Elonore.
• Su Li gave Saina a mithril comb engraved with her name and gently combed her hair, telling her he would do it every day.
• Little Stone told his family he wanted to visit the Far North and explore the ruins beneath the Ten-Thousand-Year Glacier.
• Su Li agreed to let Little Stone go, and Saina asked him to write home before he returned.
• Little Stone promised he would come back and leaned against Saina as she rubbed his hair.

Little Stone and Elizabeth left Ginkgo Alley to begin their own lives, leaving their families to adjust to the quieter home. Years later, Su Li sat in the courtyard with the elderly Silver as the story ended on the family’s fiftieth year in Ginkgo Alley.

• Saina sewed fourteen reinforced winter garments for Little Stone, and Su Li gave him a pocket watch that could withstand one fourth-tier strike.
• Little Stone said goodbye to Saina and Su Li, then left Ginkgo Alley with food and a pack.
• Elizabeth left to take over the Iris Family's core trade routes, while Elena hid her sadness after their farewell.
• Saina, Elena, and Su Li sat together after dinner and reflected on their children leaving, and Su Li promised that home would always be there for them.
• In the fiftieth year since settling in Ginkgo Alley, Su Li sat reading with the frail, elderly Silver curled on his knees.

Su Li and those around him faced the passing of Silver and the gradual end of their old life as years went by. In the sixtieth year, Ginkgo’s propulsion core and circuits proved beyond repair, leaving the ship unusable.

• Su Li, Saina, and Elonore buried Silver, and Elena quietly tamped down the earth around his marker.
• Su Li received Talia’s letter announcing she was leaving to seek regions with greater ether concentrations on the eastern continent.
• Elena resigned her positions and handed Iris Kingdom’s financial and trade authority to Elizabeth, while Su Li made new knee guards for Saina.
• Su Li and Saina visited the decaying Ginkgo at the harbor, and Saina said she feared she would never see the southern sea.
• In the spring of the sixtieth year, Su Li found Ginkgo’s propulsion core depleted, and Elonore confirmed its circuits and relic components could not be replaced.

Su Li and Saina salvaged useful belongings from the Ginkgo before covering the aging ship, then welcomed Little Stone and Elizabeth home with their young children. The family gathered in the courtyard, where Su Yuan wondered why Su Li had not grown old, and Elonore offered the children glowing toys.

• Su Li, Saina, Elonore, and Elena spent two days salvaging belongings from the Ginkgo, and Elena had workers cover the ship with tarps.
• Su Li watched the rain fall over the covered Ginkgo, then joined Saina for fish soup at home.
• In early summer of the seventieth year, Little Stone arrived with Qin Lan and their five-year-old son Su Yuan, while Elizabeth returned with her four-year-old daughter.
• Saina welcomed her grandson, and Elena greeted Elizabeth's daughter and invited the family inside.
• Su Yuan asked Su Li why he did not get old, and Su Li answered that he was handsome.
• Elonore showed the children two pale-green balls of light and asked if they wanted to play.

Su Yuan and the little blonde girl brought lively chaos to the courtyard before leaving with Little Stone, while Saina and Su Li remained behind. Eighty years later, Saina’s aging body slowed her walk to the greenhouse, and Elena watched Elonore tend the flowers in the courtyard.

• Elonore sent a ball of light rolling through the courtyard, and Su Yuan and the little blonde girl chased it into the vegetable patch.
• Half a month later, Saina packed cured meat and pickles into Little Stone’s carriage, then watched him and Su Yuan leave.
• Saina and Su Li stayed behind in the quiet courtyard, and Saina cooked fish head soup for the two of them.
• In their eightieth year in Ginkgo Alley, Su Li offered Saina his arm as they walked slowly to the greenhouse, where she inspected the vegetable beds.
• Elena left her study and watched Elonore tending the violet flower bed in the courtyard.

Su Li, Elena, Elonore, and Saina shared a quiet dinner and received a letter from Little Stone inviting them to the Far North. Years later, Su Li visited the aging blacksmith Old Li, then returned home to listen as Saina remembered Wading Village.

• Elena watched Elonore tend the flower bed, then helped Su Li feed Saina soup and grapes at dinner.
• A messenger delivered Little Stone's letter inviting them to live in his new town in the Far North, and Saina dictated a reply warning him to dress warmly and drink less.
• That night, Su Li sat beside sleeping Saina and Elena by the fire while Elonore watched them.
• In the spring of the ninetieth year, Su Li visited Old Li's blacksmith shop, shared a toast to Old Buck, and forged a hoe for him.
• Su Li returned home and heard Saina softly recall Wading Village, its old locust tree, and her father's forge.

Su Li spent time with Saina and Elena as they grew old, while Elonore abandoned her attempts to stop their aging. During a blizzard, the four gathered by the fire, where Saina and Elena said they had lived long enough.

• Su Li carved a miniature of Wading Village for Saina, who cried when she found it the next morning.
• Su Li guided Elena around the violet flower beds as her eyesight worsened, and he told her he had lived for over a hundred years.
• Elonore searched ancient elven formulas for ways to delay aging, but Su Li persuaded her to stop and stay with the people she loved.
• During a century-scale blizzard in Silver Crown City, Su Li shielded the courtyard and joined Saina, Elena, and Elonore by the fire.
• Saina said she had lived long enough, Elena agreed, and Elonore listened with reddened eyes.

Little Stone and Elizabeth returned to the Royal Wilderness and reunited with their aging mothers, while Su Li cared for the family. As Saina’s health declined, Su Li prepared a heavily cushioned carriage to take her back to Wading Village, and she reminisced with Elena on the journey.

• Little Stone and Elizabeth returned to the Royal Wilderness, where they reunited with Saina and Elena and settled in to care for them.
• Su Li and Saina watched the harbor ship together as the snow melted, and Saina said that being with him mattered more than seeing the southern sea.
• In the late summer of the one hundred and tenth year, Saina began to lose focus, and Elonore told Su Li that her time was near.
• Saina asked to return to Wading Village, so Su Li prepared a carriage layered with hides and shock-absorbing cloth and set off with the family.
• During the slow ride, Saina and Elena recalled how Saina had first met Su Li.

Su Li brought Saina back to Wading Village, where she revisited the Old Locust Tree and the place where she and Su Li had once watched a fire together. As Saina and Elena grew too frail to leave their beds, Su Li stayed beside them and told them about his past lives.

• Su Li and Saina stopped at the Old Locust Tree in Wading Village, where Saina recalled childhood memories and the fire she had shared with Su Li a century earlier.
• On the journey home, Saina slept with her head on Su Li’s lap while Elena rested beside her.
• By autumn of the one hundred and twentieth year, Saina could no longer leave bed and Elena was awake only two hours a day, so Little Stone, Elizabeth, Elonore, and Su Li cared for them.
• Saina asked Su Li to tell her about his past, and he described his first two lives and said his current life was his longest.
• Elena joined Saina in teasing Su Li about his humble beginnings, then Saina fell asleep as Su Li held both women’s hands and kissed their foreheads.

As Saina and Elena grew weaker, Su Li stayed beside them while they entrusted their family to Elizabeth and Little Stone. Ten years later, he prepared their familiar New Year’s Eve meal, bringing them together around the table.

• Su Li saw the bond panel mark Saina and Elena as etched into bone and engraved on heart, and he resolved that their parting was not final.
• Elena gave Elizabeth seven keys representing the Iris Family’s authority and told her to protect the courtyard.
• Saina asked Little Stone to keep Su Li company, warning that he hid his hardships and would stare into space when alone.
• Su Li cared for Saina while Little Stone and Elizabeth knelt beside her, and Elonore wept silently outside the room.
• In the 140th Year, Su Li cooked familiar dishes for New Year’s Eve, and Little Stone and Elizabeth helped Saina and Elena sit with him at the table.

Su Li shared a final meal and memories with Saina and Elena, then cared for Elena as her life faded. Elena died in Su Li’s arms after spending an autumn afternoon beneath the ginkgo tree.

• Su Li toasted with Saina, Elena, and Elonore, and promised to make Saina braised pork ribs and Elena braised fish in the next life.
• In the 145th year, Su Li cared for Elena as she lay unconscious, while Elonore checked her pulse each day.
• Elena woke and asked Su Li to carry her outside, where she caught a ginkgo leaf and called it pretty.
• Su Li held Elena beneath the ginkgo tree all afternoon, then carried her back to bed and stayed beside her through the night.
• At three in the morning, Elena traced Su Li’s calluses, said his name, and let her hand fall.

Su Li buried Elena and remained beside Saina as her health and memory deteriorated. After Saina briefly regained clarity and asked how long he would be alone, she fell asleep again, and Su Li stayed at her bedside until dawn.

• Su Li buried Elena on the highest hill in the Royal Wilderness, marking her grave with only her name and pouring out her favorite fruit wine.
• Three months after Elena's death, Saina's condition worsened, and she briefly mistook her elderly son Little Stone for a child.
• Su Li stayed beside Saina, holding her hand as she recalled stories from Wading Village.
• Saina briefly regained clarity, traced Su Li's unchanged face, and asked how long he would be alone after she was gone.
• Saina fell asleep again, and Su Li held her hand and kept watch until dawn.

Saina died peacefully after asking Su Li to find her in her next life, and Su Li left a spiritual imprint on her soul before she passed. He buried her beside Elena and, seven days later, people began arriving at the graves.

• Saina asked Su Li whether he would recognize and find her in another life, and he promised that he would.
• Su Li placed a spiritual imprint in Saina's soul, and she smiled, clasped his hand, and died peacefully.
• Su Li stayed beside Saina until dawn, then spent three days making her a Silverwood coffin by hand.
• Su Li buried Saina beside Elena at Royal Wilderness and placed Old Buck's hammer before Saina's grave.
• On the seventh day, Little Stone led Qin Lan, Su Yuan, and Su Yuan's family up the hill.

Su Li refused Little Stone’s invitation to leave the hill and returned to the quiet courtyard with Elonore. As he gathered keepsakes from Saina and Elena and sat beside Elonore, he found peace in the life he had lived.

• Little Stone led the Su family and Elizabeth’s descendants to bow before Su Li, but he declined to live with them and sent them home.
• Elonore waited with an umbrella while Su Li stood between the gravestones, then went ahead to prepare something warm.
• Su Li straightened the hammer by a gravestone, told Saina that her daughter cooked better than she had, and walked down the hill.
• Su Li searched the empty courtyard, packed Saina’s apron and Elena’s abacus into his Space Ring, and left the weeds in the garden untouched.
• Elonore brought Su Li tea, sat beside him beneath the ginkgo tree, and stayed with him in silence as he reflected on his life.

In the autumn of Year 150, Elonore comforted Su Li as they remembered the people they had lost. That winter, Su Li’s core began to change, and he set out toward the deep-sea aether source with Elonore following beside him.

• Elonore showed Su Li the keepsake from her human nanny and told him that remembering the good someone gave was enough.
• Su Li comforted Elonore as she finally broke down and rested her head against his knee.
• In the winter, Su Li sensed his stagnant core reorganizing and felt the barrier beyond the fifth tier loosen after one hundred and fifty years of accumulated memories and acceptance.
• Su Li’s expanded senses reached the deep-sea mineral vein region recorded in Elonore’s sea trial data ledger.
• Su Li walked through the snow toward the harbor, and Elonore followed in his footprints, saying she would go with him.

Su Li and Elonore discovered that the Ginkgo’s damaged core might regenerate in a high-aether environment, so Su Li decided to take it toward the deep sea. After sharing a meal, they planned to borrow a small boat and investigate the underwater aether concentration.

• Su Li and Elonore examined the Ginkgo’s nearly depleted core and learned that it might recover in a sufficiently concentrated aether environment.
• Su Li decided they would take the Ginkgo with them toward the deep sea, despite not knowing how to move the eight-hundred-ton ship.
• Su Li cooked flatbread with cured pork for Elonore, using stores preserved in his Space Ring.
• Su Li told Elonore they would borrow a small boat from Old Li's apprentice and investigate the nearby sea the next day.
• Elonore insisted on joining Su Li, and they shared a brief laugh while eating.

Su Li prepared to investigate the Ginkgo’s damaged propulsion core and borrowed Li He’s coastal cargo ship, repairing its propeller with ordinary steel instead of mithril. The Ginkgo’s golden light-film began pointing south, and at daybreak Su Li and Elonore inspected the ship’s badly damaged hull.

• Su Li and Elonore found that the sea chart was worm-eaten and that the Ginkgo’s rusted propulsion core could not be removed without shattering its casing.
• Su Li visited Li He, accepted Old Li’s iron pliers, and borrowed Li He’s coastal cargo ship for half a year.
• Su Li repaired the cargo ship’s worn propeller shaft sleeve with steel while Elonore tended the furnace.
• Li He’s granddaughter called Elonore “Grandma Ai,” and Elonore later asked Su Li whether she looked old.
• The Ginkgo’s light-film trembled with a steady rhythm and pointed south, and Li He delivered supplies to the cargo ship.
• At daybreak, Su Li and Elonore examined the Ginkgo’s hull, which was riddled with holes and partly collapsed.

Su Li removed the Ginkgo’s propulsion core, adapted Li He’s cargo ship to carry it, and discovered the core absorbed energy from seawater as he sailed away. Ten years later, he was living on Salt Island as a blacksmith, repairing fishermen’s gear.

• Su Li and Elonore cut the propulsion core free from the Ginkgo, and Su Li asked her to preserve part of the kitchen wall bearing Saina’s old scorch mark.
• When the core proved too heavy for Li He’s cargo ship, Su Li built buoyancy brackets from the Ginkgo’s scrap metal and suspended it behind the stern.
• Su Li tested the setup, and the core’s speed exceeded its old records as seawater energy brightened its light film and stopped its cracks from spreading.
• Before leaving the harbor, Su Li stored keepsakes from Saina, Elena, and Silver, carved the date into the railing, and heard the Ginkgo’s keel sound its third resonance.
• Ten years later, Su Li repaired a fisherman’s harpoon at his Patch Shop on Salt Island while his heavily patched Patch Boat rested in the harbor.