Chapter Summaries

Su Li and Saina received the Heart of the Flame Demon from Barlow’s goblin guards after he apologized for offending Su Li. When Su Li touched the stone, his Sword Spirit Root absorbed its powerful fire-element ether.

• Su Li, Saina, and Elena soaked in the bathtub while discussing whether Barlow would deliver the Heart of the Flame Demon.
• The next morning, four goblins arrived at Su Li’s courtyard with the stone and conveyed Barlow’s apology and promise to follow Su Li’s rules.
• Su Li let the goblins leave, then broke open the chest and found the flame-spitting Heart of the Flame Demon inside.
• Su Li touched the stone, and its fire-element ether surged into his meridians through his Sword Spirit Root.
• Elena woke and came to breakfast, while Su Li stored the chest and stone in his Space Ring.

Su Li learned that the fire-element meteorite iron required Dragon Blood Grass, a rare herb the dwarves wanted in trade, and discovered a possible lead through the Elven Merchant Association. He returned home after seeing the Iris Knights arrive and found Elena had received a letter and brocade box from her father, but the letter’s contents remained unread by him.

• Su Li told Saina he needed supplementary materials to temper the fire-element ether in his stone, then went to the black market to ask about the meteorite iron.
• A one-eyed beastman told Su Li the dwarves would trade the meteorite iron only for fourth-rank Dragon Blood Grass and suggested the Elven Merchant Association might have some.
• Su Li saw Iris Knights riding through Silver Crown City and decided to return home because their arrival might signal developments involving Elena.
• Su Li found two Iris Knights in his courtyard with a letter and brocade box for Elena from her father, then sent the knights away.
• Elena showed Su Li the letter, but he had not yet read it when the chapter ended.

Elena received a letter from Old Ford, who gave her the Iris Family’s treasured Rank Five potion and urged her to reach Rank Four within ten years. Su Li promised to reply that she and the others could advance within three years, leaving Elena scrambling to find out what he had written.

• Su Li read Old Ford’s letter to Elena, who learned that her father had sent the family’s four-hundred-year treasure and worried about her future.
• Su Li examined the potent Rank Five potion and explained that Elena and Saina would advance alongside him through the Family Group.
• Elena decided to keep the potion and asked Su Li to reply that she was doing well and Old Ford should not worry.
• Su Li wrote that they would reach Rank Four in three years, then refused to show Elena the letter as she rushed downstairs to grab it.
• Saina laughed while Silver secretly buried his head in the chestnut bag.

Su Li planned to forge a warhammer for himself, a rapier for Elena, and a battleaxe for Saina, choosing materials and rune circuits to suit each weapon. He left the courtyard plans in place as Elena began training Saina, while Silver threatened to snag Elena’s silk dress.

• Su Li told Elena and Saina to choose weapons suited to their fighting styles and promised to forge them fourth-tier weapons.
• Elena chose a light, narrow longsword with an iris motif, while Saina chose a one-handed battleaxe suited to her strength.
• Su Li chose a heavy warhammer for himself and matched materials and rune circuits to each weapon.
• Su Li said he would ask Talia about obtaining Dragonblood Grass from the Elven Merchant Association, with Elonore as another possible source.
• Elena told Saina to meet her in the backyard for sword training, and Su Li planned to work in the woodshed.
• Silver pawed at the hem of Elena’s silk dress on the balcony as Su Li called for the cat to get down.

Su Li searched the Elven Merchant Association for Dragon Blood Grass, hoping to trade it for fire-aspected meteoric iron. Talia suggested the Grand Elder might own some and that Su Li could offer to repair his damaged battle armor; Elonore then confirmed she had seen Dragon Blood Grass in her grandfather’s herb repository.

• Su Li visited Talia at the Elven Merchant Association and asked whether it had Dragon Blood Grass.
• Talia checked the inventory ledger and found no Dragon Blood Grass in the association’s northern herb shipment.
• Talia said the Grand Elder might have Dragon Blood Grass in his private collection and suggested Su Li offer to repair his cracked, malfunctioning battle armor.
• Su Li left to ask Elonore about the herb, and she told him she had seen a sealed jade box labeled Dragon Blood Grass in her grandfather’s repository.

Su Li attempted to repair Grand Elder Elvin’s peak Tier Four battle armor using his Sword Spirit Root’s aether. After half an hour of welding the broken core circuits together, he finished the repair and collapsed into a chair, leaving the result to be seen.

• Su Li asked Elonore to take him to meet her grandfather, and she mistakenly believed he wanted to pursue her romantically.
• Su Li told Grand Elder Elvin he wanted to repair Elvin’s damaged battle armor and gain experience with high-tier equipment.
• Elvin brought out his dark-gold peak Tier Four armor, whose chest crack had severed its core circuits.
• Su Li used his carving knife and Sword Spirit Root’s aether to weld the broken circuits together while Elvin panicked and Elonore watched anxiously.
• Su Li finished after half an hour, shattered the carving knife, and sat down to recover.

Su Li repaired Elvin's battle armor and received Dragon Blood Grass as a reward, then traded it for fire-element meteorite iron and spent five days forging weapons. His attempt to make himself a warhammer went awry as the Sword Spirit Root forced the metal into a sharp, flattened shape.

• Su Li repaired Elvin's battle armor, and Elvin tested it before offering him a reward.
• Su Li asked for Dragon Blood Grass, and Elvin gave him the herb while mistaking his motives for romantic ambition toward Elonore.
• Su Li left the Elven Merchant Association, traded the Dragon Blood Grass to a dwarf for fire-element meteorite iron, and returned to Ginkgo Alley.
• Su Li spent five days forging a rapier for Elena and a hand axe for Saina, then began making a warhammer for himself.
• The Sword Spirit Root resisted his attempts to shape the warhammer, turning the metal ingot into a long, thin, sharp form.

Su Li finished forging weapons for Elena and Saina, along with the blanks for three sets of soft armor. He began taking Elena and Saina’s measurements, leaving Elena stunned by Saina’s figure.

• Su Li emerged from the woodshed on the sixth morning and presented Elena with a frost-infused sword and Saina with a heavy axe.
• Elena admired the sword, while Saina tested her axe by splitting a tree stump and the bluestone beneath it.
• Su Li revealed that he had forged a greatsword instead of the promised warhammer and explained that he would also make three sets of close-fitting soft armor.
• After dinner, Su Li brought Elena and Saina to the bedroom to take their measurements, claiming the armor’s aether circuits required precise fitting.
• Elena undressed first and teased Saina, but her confidence faltered when Saina revealed her voluptuous figure.
• Saina proudly defended her figure as Su Li began measuring her hips.

Su Li and Saina broke through to the fourth tier with Elena’s potion, greatly increasing their strength. The surge of aether destroyed the Silver Claw Merchant Guild’s monitoring instruments, and Barlow mistakenly blamed Elvin and ordered his people not to provoke the Elven Merchant Association.

• Su Li drank Elena’s potion and broke through to the fourth tier, while Saina also reached the fourth tier.
• Saina shattered the wooden bedframe, and Elena accidentally froze water with her newly strengthened aether.
• Su Li said that only an eight-hundred-year-old elf was likely stronger than the three of them in Silver Crown City.
• Aether monitoring instruments at the Silver Claw Merchant Guild exploded after a massive fluctuation swept through the eastern district.
• Barlow assumed Elvin had caused the fluctuation and ordered the guild’s people to avoid provoking the Elven Merchant Association.

Su Li, Saina, and Elena had all reached the fourth rank, causing a citywide surge that destroyed the Elven Merchant Association’s Spirit Pool sensor. The next morning, Su Li’s greatsword began evolving on its own as he prepared to forge soft armor for his household.

• Elvin learned that a powerful surge from the east had broken the Spirit Pool sensor and suspected several people had advanced to the fourth rank, so he ordered the Merchant Association to keep a low profile.
• Su Li dismissed the disturbance while Saina and Elena bickered about their new fourth-rank strength, then planned to make their soft armor.
• Elonore delivered breakfast from Elvin and warned Su Li to stay cautious after the city’s detectors exploded.
• Su Li, Saina, and Elena ate breakfast, and Elena guessed Elvin was trying to secure Su Li’s help for the Elven Merchant Association.
• Su Li found his greatsword glowing and forming rune circuits as it evolved, then told Saina and Elena to prepare for the armor work.

After Elena received a letter revealing Old Ford’s plan to overthrow the royal family, Su Li and the others agreed to wait before deciding whether to get involved. Su Li headed to the Elven Merchant Association, where he found Talia exhausted and working alone.

• Claire arrived at Elena’s courtyard with a letter from Old Ford after sensing that Saina and Elena had both reached fourth rank and that Su Li was beyond her perception.
• Elena read Old Ford’s letter, which told her to stay in the Free City-State until the royal family’s fifth-rank elder died, then help the Iris Family seize the throne.
• Su Li explained that Old Ford had brought Elena into his plans because her rapid breakthrough made her a valuable asset, and Elena wondered why her father had revealed his ambitions in this life.
• Saina asked whether she could farm in the royal palace, while Su Li said they would discuss rebellion in two years and then left for work.
• Su Li crossed Silver Crown City’s unusually quiet streets and found Talia alone in her workshop, exhausted and marking a metal plate.

Su Li revealed to Talia that he had broken through to the fourth tier, along with his two wives, and insisted he had no interest in taking power. He shifted the conversation to a greatsword he had forged, whose fire-aspected aether caught Talia’s attention.

• Talia told Su Li that the Grand Elder suspected several people had reached the fourth tier after a strange disturbance in the eastern district.
• Su Li asked Talia to teach him fourth-tier runes, but she refused and warned that attempting one could drain him to death.
• Talia sensed that Su Li had become unreadable to her, realized he was above her tier, and confronted him about the breakthrough.
• Su Li confirmed he had broken through and said his two wives had also reached the fourth tier.
• Talia warned that the three fourth-ranks could disrupt Silver Crown City’s balance of power, while Su Li insisted he only wanted an ordinary life and money.
• Su Li presented Talia with a massive fire-aspected greatsword he had forged.

Su Li learned to inscribe fourth-tier runes from Talia and successfully completed a Fortitude Rune after an afternoon of failed attempts. Leaving the Elven Merchant Association, he confronted the scouts watching him and was invited by Manager Barlow to discuss an important deal.

• Su Li showed Talia his self-forged fourth-tier sword and asked her to teach him fourth-tier runes for the soft armor he planned to make.
• Talia explained that fourth-tier circuits were three-dimensional, demonstrated one on deep-sea silver, and had Su Li practice with a guiding needle.
• Su Li ruined several pieces of metal before using his Sword Spirit Root’s learning ability to inscribe a successful fourth-tier Fortitude Rune.
• Talia sent Su Li away, and he left the workshop planning to return home and craft gear.
• Su Li emerged from the Elven Merchant Association at night and used his fourth-tier pressure to crush several low-tier scouts hiding nearby.
• Two guards from the Goblin Chamber of Commerce approached Su Li and asked him to meet Manager Barlow about an important deal.

Su Li met with Manager Barlow, who tried to recruit him for the Baris Empire and offered him a mansion. Su Li refused the house and military service but said he would not help the Orenda Royal Family and might someday aid the Empire; Barlow then offered him rare materials as a token of friendship.

• Barlow welcomed Su Li to the Silver Claw Merchant Guild and offered him the deed to a mansion, but Su Li refused it.
• Barlow proposed that Su Li serve the Baris Empire as a mercenary or senior retainer in exchange for wealth and status.
• Su Li said he would not help the Orenda Royal Family and might someday lend the Baris Empire a hand.
• Su Li warned Barlow not to send people near his courtyard and started to leave.
• Barlow presented Su Li with a box of high-grade mithril ore and pure fourth-rank crystals.

Su Li returned with materials to forge soft armor for Elena and Saina, then began processing the mithril after spending the night measuring the two women. Elonore arrived with a valuable chest from the Grand Elder, leaving her alone with Su Li in the courtyard while Elena and Saina slept upstairs.

• Su Li accepted high-grade mithril and crystals from Barlow in exchange for promising a discount on future weapon repairs.
• Su Li returned to Ginkgo Alley and told Elena and Saina that he had gathered materials for their soft armor, then measured them again that night.
• The next morning, Su Li began drawing the mithril into fine threads for the armor lining.
• Elonore delivered a heavy sandalwood chest on the Grand Elder's orders and entered Su Li's courtyard.
• Su Li told Elonore that Elena and Saina were still asleep, while Elonore recalled the Grand Elder's advice to make Su Li grow accustomed to her presence.

Su Li accepted rare materials and a book of circuit derivations from the Elven Merchant Association, then repaired Elonore’s faulty Swiftwind Dagger and sent her away. Elena and Saina caught sight of Elonore leaving and scolded Su Li before he ordered them back to work on their gear.

• Su Li accepted the chest of materials and promised the merchant association he would inspect future high-grade goods they could not repair.
• Elonore asked Su Li to examine her homemade Swiftwind Dagger, and he forcefully cleared its blocked circuits, turning it into a top-grade second-tier weapon.
• Elonore left with the repaired dagger and said she would return the next day.
• Elena and Saina accused Su Li of flirting with Elonore, but he told them to finish forging their armor linings or lose next month's clothing money.

Su Li finished two suits of Tier Four soft armor for Saina and Elena while Elonore continued visiting with materials and helping around the courtyard. He paid Elonore with improvised mithril bracers, and after Saina and Elena tested their new armor, Elena questioned Su Li about giving the elf valuable equipment.

• Su Li completed two suits of Tier Four soft armor as Saina and Elena argued in the courtyard.
• Elonore brought Su Li fourth-tier materials and helped Saina draw water, prompting Elena to praise her diligence.
• Su Li gave Elonore two crude mithril bracers as payment and told her not to keep visiting; she cried with gratitude and hurried away.
• Saina and Elena tried on their new armor, and Saina demonstrated its increased strength by cracking the courtyard paving with her battle-axe.
• Elena scrutinized Su Li after learning he had given Elonore the bracers.

Su Li continued growing his weapon business and brought his household, including Elonore, to the East District market to buy supplies for winter. The group filled their baskets with food and haggled over meat.

• Elonore proudly showed Violet the crude rune bracers Su Li had made for her, but Violet tried to take them away.
• Over three months, Su Li expanded his high-tier weapon trade, and the Elven Merchant Association increased his share by thirty percent.
• Elonore began helping Su Li forge weapons, using her elven sensitivity to locate flaws in their aether circuits.
• Su Li announced a trip to the East District market, and Saina, Elena, and Elonore joined him.
• At the crowded market, Saina bargained with a butcher while Elonore carried baskets filled with winter provisions.

Saina began treating Elonore with less hostility after finding her struggling under heavy baskets, and she included the elf in the household’s dinner. The snow stopped over Ginkgo Alley that night.

• Saina returned through the crowd to find Elonore, took the heavier basket from her, and told her to keep up.
• Elena recognized that Saina was beginning to accept Elonore, while Su Li joked that the elf was diligent and thin.
• Back at home, Elonore tried to leave, but Saina assigned her kitchen chores and implicitly invited her to stay for dinner.
• At dinner, Elonore shyly put a small rib in Su Li’s bowl, and Saina scolded him for complaining about it.
• The snow stopped in Ginkgo Alley that night.

Su Li’s unstable practice sword exploded and injured Elonore, who stayed with his household while she recovered. After Elder Elvin took her back, Elonore returned the next morning with breakfast, and Saina let her in to help in the kitchen.

• Su Li’s practice sword exploded in an alley, injuring Elonore, and he carried her home to Ginkgo Alley for treatment.
• Saina and Elena treated Elonore’s wounds, and Saina gave her a place to sleep in the living room.
• Elder Elvin visited with healing herbs and left Elonore with Su Li’s household for several more days.
• During her ten-day stay, Elonore tried to help with chores and settled into the household’s daily routines.
• After Elonore’s injury healed, Elder Elvin sent a carriage to take her back to the Elven Merchant Association.
• Elonore returned the next morning with jam bread for Saina, who let her enter and told her to peel garlic.