Chapter Summaries

Su Li attended Elena’s wedding banquet after accepting an ancient breathing technique, then refused to stay with her on their wedding night and returned to Saina. He left the scroll to study the next day and spent the night with Saina.

• Su Li stored the parchment and lead box in his Space Ring, then joined Elena and the nobles at the banquet.
• Su Li spent three hours charming the guests and deflecting their attempts to recruit him while Elena stayed at his side.
• Elena tried to persuade Su Li to stay for their wedding night, but he refused and left the manor.
• Su Li returned to No. 18 Golden Broom Avenue, where Saina had waited up for him.
• Su Li showed Saina the breathing technique scroll, said he would study it tomorrow, and carried her upstairs.

Su Li studied the Violet Breathing Technique and realized his Sword Spirit Root absorbed aether far more efficiently than the method could. He discovered that his body had reached its limit and that he needed a rank-appropriate potion to advance.

• Su Li examined Old Ford's copy of the Violet Breathing Technique and understood how it drew aether into the body.
• Su Li realized the technique was a crude and dangerous way to absorb energy, while his Sword Spirit Root absorbed aether automatically and at far greater speed.
• Su Li sensed that his body could no longer retain the aether his Sword Spirit Root absorbed.
• Su Li read the parchment's final notes and learned that potions could break the body's saturation barrier and enable advancement.

Su Li learned that the Orenda royal family monopolized the potion needed to advance beyond first-rank completion, leaving him to find another way to obtain it. He set the problem aside for the moment and comforted the sleeping Saina.

• Su Li read that advancing to second-rank Copper required a potion controlled by the Orenda royal family, which granted bottles only to loyal families after applications and assessment.
• Su Li assessed himself as a first-rank knight at the peak of his current strength and concluded that he needed the potion to advance.
• Su Li considered applying to the royal family but dismissed the idea because of his low standing despite his marriage into the Iris Family.
• Saina turned over in her sleep, and Su Li covered her before she burrowed into his arms; he patted her back and felt less troubled.

Over five years, Su Li built a successful enchanted-weapon business and grew close to Elena and Saina, who became his partners in life. Forty years later, Saina withdrew from him as age changed her, and she died alone in her room after refusing to open the door.

• Su Li’s enchanted-weapon trade prospered with the Iris Family’s backing, while Old Ford persuaded the royal family to leave him alone.
• Elena complained that her father wanted Su Li to forge higher-grade enchanted greatswords, and Su Li cheered her up with card tricks and a new game.
• Su Li, Saina, and Elena shared a night together, their former marriage-only promise long forgotten.
• Forty years later, Saina shut herself in her room because she felt ashamed of her aged appearance beside Elena, who still looked much younger.
• Su Li tried to get Saina to open the door, but she refused, and her room fell silent when winter’s first snow arrived.

After Saina died, Su Li buried her and decided to leave the royal capital in search of a potion that could help him advance. He left Elena a hundred powerful swords to protect her hold over the Iris Family, then departed alone into the night.

• Su Li buried Saina beneath a bluestone slab while Elena laid bellflowers on her grave.
• Su Li told Elena he planned to leave for the sea or the Baris Empire, but Elena refused to abandon the Iris Family and her power in the royal capital.
• Su Li spent half a month forging a hundred aether-patterned longswords in the villa basement.
• Su Li warned Elena that her cousin was seeking her position as family head and that half of her father's old generals had been bought.
• Su Li gave Elena the swords, packed his iron hammer, and left the royal capital alone.

At the end of his life, Su Li reflected on his failed search for high-rank potions, his limited advancement, and Elena’s rise to power. He recalled seeing Elena ten years earlier and wondered whether she would welcome him or imprison him if she learned he had returned.

• Su Li burned the fraudulent map he had bought while sheltering from the three-day snowstorm in Dawn Mist Forest.
• Su Li considered how decades of travel had left him unable to cross the northern border of the Orenda Kingdom and how his sword spirit root had only advanced him to second-tier knight.
• Su Li remembered returning to Saining City ten years earlier and seeing that Elena had become a grand duchess and a fourth-rank knight.
• Su Li recalled hiding as Elena struck a maid and reflected on how power had changed her.
• Su Li wondered whether Elena would embrace him or capture him and force him to forge weapons if she discovered his return.

After Su Li died at the age of 105, the system evaluated his third life and assigned him low marks for survival and having no children, but high marks for wealth, status, and legend. The settlement remained underway after it revealed an S-rank evaluation for his legacy as the Founder of Duke of Iris and secret king of arms.

• Su Li died alone in a freezing shack after calculating that his wealth, status, and legendary weapons should earn him a strong evaluation.
• Su Li awoke in a gray-white space as the system announced that his third life had ended and began its settlement.
• The system gave Su Li a C- for surviving 105 years, an A for accumulating wealth, and an A for his status as a baron and Magic Forger.
• The system gave Su Li an E for having no progeny, and Su Li cursed the penalty.
• The system awarded Su Li an S for his legend as Founder of Duke of Iris and secret king of arms, and Su Li sprang up in surprise.

Su Li gained the golden Family Group trait, which let him share lifespans with up to three bonded people and raise weaker members to his realm. After learning that Saina and Elena both qualified for a reincarnation anchor, he chose Wading Village and returned there.

• Su Li received the Family Group trait and learned its rules and restrictions.
• Su Li decided to invite Saina first and considered Elena as a possible second member.
• The system revealed that Elena would retain her memories and offered anchors in Wading Village or Saining City.
• Su Li chose the Wading Village anchor and began his next life there.

Su Li found Saina distressed because she feared growing old while he remained young, and he convinced her to join his family group, which granted her his strength and lifespan. As they headed back to the village, Su Li considered the two remaining spots and wondered whether Elena had awakened with memories of her previous life.

• Saina told Su Li she remembered her past lives and urged him to leave her for Elena because she feared aging and making him bury her again.
• Su Li carried Saina into a secluded patch of bushes and forced her to face his decision to keep her with him.
• Su Li had Saina consent to joining his family group, and the system confirmed her successful invitation.
• Saina's body became stronger, younger, and able to share Su Li's lifespan, leaving her thrilled that she could stay with him forever.
• Su Li and Saina walked toward the village to get food, while Su Li considered the two remaining family-group spots and Elena's return to age eighteen.

Elena woke in her eighteen-year-old body with all the memories of her previous life, when she became a grand duke but remained an unwanted partner to Su Li. Determined to change their future, she prepared to find Su Li before he reached the royal capital.

• Elena realized she had been reborn after seeing her youthful body and remembering her previous life with Su Li.
• Elena recalled how Su Li had loved Saina most and had left her behind for fifty years.
• Mary told Elena that Old Ford wanted to see her, and Elena resolved not to be handed over to Su Li for enchanted weapons again.
• Elena ordered Mary to bring her most revealing red hunting outfit so she could leave for Su Li before he reached the capital.

Su Li planned to become a first-rank knight and leave Wading Village with Saina, while Elena raced there intending to reclaim him. The chapter ended with Elena arriving at the village and Su Li recognizing her voice.

• Su Li estimated that his rapidly accumulating aether would let him break through to first-rank knight within three months, and promised to take Saina traveling afterward.
• Su Li continued forging iron to build strength and protect himself and Saina from the dangers of the ongoing war.
• Elena left the royal capital with twenty elite guards, determined to take Su Li from Saina.
• Elena's convoy reached Wading Village, and she ordered her guards to find the blacksmith named Su Li.
• Su Li heard Elena's familiar voice from the courtyard and froze.

Elena arrived in the village intending to claim Su Li, but he used a secret from their shared past life to shock her. Elena realized Su Li had returned to the past too.

• Elena arrived with her knights and ordered them to bring Su Li to her.
• Saina stood in the knights’ way, but Elena bought a villager’s house and ordered Saina tied up.
• Elena dragged Su Li into the house and taunted Saina before trying to seduce him.
• Su Li revealed his knowledge of a secret from Elena’s past, and Elena realized he had returned too.

Elena realized Su Li remembered their past life, but stubbornly carried out her attempt to claim him before asking him to return to the royal capital with her. Su Li refused and chose to leave with Saina for a peaceful life by the sea.

• Elena recognized that Su Li remembered their past life and, despite her embarrassment, insisted on claiming him and proceeded with him.
• Afterward, Elena dressed and offered Su Li money, status, and high-level breathing techniques if he would return to the royal capital with her.
• Su Li freed Saina from her bonds, and she threw herself into his arms.
• Su Li refused Elena's offer, saying he wanted to take Saina to see the sea and hear the bards of the free city-states.

Elena confessed that she regretted choosing power over Su Li in their previous life and demanded to travel with him and Saina. Su Li’s bond with Elena then rose to Unforgettable, as she proved willing to abandon everything for him.

• Elena recalled the forty years she spent as Grand Duchess after Su Li left, regretting that she had not followed him.
• Elena confronted Su Li and told him she wanted to leave her noble life behind and travel with him to see the sea and visit the Free City-States.
• Saina pushed Elena and argued that Su Li was her man, while Elena insisted she had spent forty years longing for him in their previous life.
• Saina cried and accused Su Li of getting together with Elena after her death, and Su Li tried to explain that it had happened years later.
• Elena declared she would follow Su Li even if it meant giving up her noble clothes and forging iron.
• Su Li’s system detected a shift in fate and raised Elena Iris’s bond level from Deep Affection and Righteous Devotion to Unforgettable.

Su Li accepted Elena into the Family Group, strengthening her, then sent her back to the royal capital to retrieve her father’s potions. Elena agreed on the condition that Su Li wait for her to return in two months, while her departure left Wading Village stunned by her connection to him.

• Elena clung to Su Li and insisted she would give up her family’s wealth and title to follow him, and he invited her into the Family Group.
• The Family Group’s power surged through Elena, greatly increasing her strength.
• Su Li told Elena to return to the royal capital and retrieve the potions locked in her father’s secret chamber for their breakthroughs.
• Elena agreed to bring back as many potions as she could if Su Li promised to wait for her in two months.
• Elena left Wading Village with twenty knights and a carriage, astonishing the villagers who learned she knew Su Li.

Su Li and Saina settled into life in Wading Village while Su Li cultivated aether, and both reached the first rank. Elena returned after two months with a second carriage and a huge iron chest, revealing that she had emptied her father’s secret chamber.

• After Elena left, the villagers treated Su Li’s family with newfound deference, and Su Li prepared a secluded house where he and Saina spent their nights.
• Su Li steadily absorbed aether while working at the smithy, and the barrier in his meridians gradually weakened.
• After two months, Su Li broke through to the first rank while forging iron, and Saina gained the same strength through their synchronization.
• On the third day after Su Li expected Elena’s return, she arrived with eight horses, two carriages, and a large iron chest.
• Elena told Su Li that she had emptied out her father’s secret chamber.

Elena brought Su Li a fortune in Purple Gold Coins, advancement potions, and supplies before agreeing to return to the royal capital in three days. After revealing his Space Ring, Su Li gave Old Buck money and prepared to leave Wading Village with Saina the next morning.

• Elena showed Su Li the Purple Gold Coins and advancement potions she had brought from her family estate.
• Su Li kept the potions, coins, and some clothes while Elena sent her knights back to the royal capital and planned to return in three days.
• Su Li stored the two chests in his Space Ring, startling Elena and Saina with the rare artifact.
• Su Li gave Old Buck one hundred gold coins and told him he would leave the next morning with Saina.
• Aunt Martha questioned Su Li about Elena, then took Saina aside and whispered to her.

Su Li, Saina, and Elena struggled to settle into the village house’s single bed before agreeing to squeeze together under one quilt. As Saina fell asleep and Elena stayed awake, Su Li thought about using Elena’s advancement potion to reach the second tier.

• At the farewell dinner, Old Buck asked Su Li to take care of Saina, and Aunt Martha watched them leave with concern.
• Su Li found only one broken bed in Elena’s house, and Saina and Elena argued over who would sleep on it.
• Su Li suggested all three share the bed, but when Saina and Elena refused to squeeze together, he spread the quilt on the floor and lay down.
• Saina joined Su Li under the quilt, and Elena reluctantly lay on his other side while the two continued to bicker.
• Su Li thought about the advancement potion and his goal of reaching the second tier as Saina fell asleep and Elena tossed and turned.

Elena fell asleep sprawled across Su Li, whose Sword Spirit Root absorbed her tempered aether more efficiently through their contact. Saina discovered them together and silently struggled with jealousy and the fear that she had already lost Su Li to Elena.

• Elena grew angry about sharing the floor with Su Li and turned toward him, then draped herself over his chest and quickly fell asleep.
• Su Li stayed still after realizing that contact with Elena greatly increased the circulation of his Sword Spirit Root and drew in her aether.
• Saina woke and accidentally touched Elena, then saw her asleep on Su Li with his hand on her waist.
• Saina quietly moved aside and sat watching them, remembering that she had once encouraged Elena to become someone who could care for Su Li.
• Saina wrestled with her jealousy and compared her body with Elena's before burying her face in her knees for more than half an hour.

Saina and Elena spent the night clinging to Su Li, who used their aether to accelerate his cultivation while they slept. In the morning, the awkward trio prepared to leave, but Saina remained angry with Elena and Su Li.

• Saina settled beside Su Li and fell asleep with her arms around his waist, her fingers entwined with Elena's.
• Su Li woke trapped between Saina and Elena and cultivated by drawing on the aether flowing from both women.
• Elena woke, realized she had drooled on Su Li's shirt, and jumped away, waking Saina as well.
• Su Li told the women to get ready to leave and confirmed that Elena had three horses for their journey.
• Saina walked out without answering, and Elena quietly asked Su Li whether Saina was angry.