When Lin Luo returned to his original star domain, the Dark King Xixi was already gone. "She has found a greater purpose and let go of the obsession in her heart," Lin Xiaoke explained.

Lin Luo nodded; if that were the case, Xixi shouldn't bother Cui Xin anymore.

"How about you?"

"It's fine, I managed to persuade her," Lin Luo replied. After twelve years together, he understood Cui Xin almost as well as he understood himself; as long as Xixi didn't bother her, Cui Xin wouldn't actively seek a fight. After all, they shared a similar fate; Cui Xin saw a reflection of herself in Xixi, which was why she had held back during their previous battle. In truth, her Path of Killing wasn't absolute—she was, after all, still just a twelve-year-old girl.

After speaking, Lin Luo scanned Lin Xiaoke several times, noting her unnervingly calm expression, and asked with surprise, "Why are you still like this?"

After completing the Saintess's sacrifice, Lin Xiaoke had abandoned all things human, becoming cold as iron. Yet, she had now reached the Quasi-Heavenly rank, having awakened and fully mastered the two consciousnesses within her, placing one foot on the edge of the Heavenly rank. Logically, her emotions should have returned by now.

Lin Xiaoke’s expression remained unchanged as she calmly explained, "I reached the Quasi-Heavenly rank with this personality. While I can revert to my original state, this is the fastest path to the Heavenly rank. Once I truly reach it, this constraint will vanish."

"I see, that's good then. While you aren't exactly the three-no's type when you're like this, and you talk quite a bit, being perpetually cold is really unsettling."

Lin Luo scratched his head, slightly unaccustomed to the cool, elegant Lin Xiaoke, unsure of what to say. After watching her for a moment, he suddenly frowned, stroking his chin as he asked, "Strange. Why do I feel such closeness to you? I have an urge to hug you, to stroke your head... Have you secretly used some special ability on me?"

This wasn't the first time he’d felt this way. In fact, during the Fourth Divine War, after just a few days spent with Lin Xiaoke, he had a peculiar feeling—a sense of profound familiarity, though he couldn't place where it came from. He had considered asking back then, but the war was urgent, and he feared being accused of hitting on her, so he never brought it up.

Lin Xiaoke glanced at him, the light in her eyes brightening slightly before immediately returning to normal. She turned her head and said, "Please refrain from hitting on me casually; it causes me considerable distress."

"..." Lin Luo was speechless; he was genuinely not trying to flirt.

However, Lin Xiaoke seemed convinced he was, as she flicked her finger, sending a faint glow floating toward Lin Luo. "This is the coordinate to my world. You can come find me if there is an emergency, but please don't come if it's nothing urgent. Also, I am very happy to see you return. Well then, see you at the Heavenly rank."

As her words faded, Lin Xiaoke transformed into a streak of white light and drifted away.

Her parting phrase, "See you at the Heavenly rank," implied there was no need to meet unless he reached that level. While the words themselves were fine, for some reason, as Lin Luo mulled over her tone, he felt she was deliberately hiding something from him.

Forget it... Lin Luo couldn't figure it out, so he tossed the issue into the clouds. Everyone had secrets; he shouldn't press for answers.

With the Three World Kings gone, only the host remained. Lin Luo turned and walked onto the massive stage... Mikoto, Yakumo Yukari, Hatsune, and Haruhi were all there, though the latter two were now captives, faces contorted in anger.

Lin Luo found their puffed-out cheeks somewhat amusing, but now wasn't the time to deal with prisoners. He turned back to Mikoto. A year had passed, and she had grown her hair long—quite unexpected. However, her heroic spirit hadn't diminished at all; if anything, it was enhanced by a touch of ethereal grace. Especially her bust—it seemed to have grown again, subtly advancing toward the level of 'Oto-san' Misaka... a boundless future lay ahead.

Not only had Mikoto's body matured, but her mindset had also deepened. Seeing Lin Luo look over, she merely nodded once before closing her eyes to conserve energy.

Lin Luo understood her meaning and turned his gaze to Yakumo Yukari... Sister Zi was just as she always was, showing no significant change. That made sense. An ancient saying goes: First came Hongjun, then came the Heavens; Yakumo existed before Buddhism and Taoism. Sister Zi is forever seventeen; one chaos cycle is one year... After only a little over a year apart, how could the eternally seventeen Sister Zi possibly change?

"Thank you for coming to help this time," Lin Luo said to her.

Lin Luo was being polite. He had expected that given Sister Zi's tendency toward veiled manipulation, she would definitely tease him now. What he hadn't anticipated was that Yakumo Yukari didn't tease him; instead, she looked at him with a complex expression and uttered a phrase he couldn't comprehend.

"Do you remember?"

"What?" Lin Luo instinctively paused.

Seeing his look of confusion, disappointment flashed in Yakumo Yukari's eyes. "If you don't know, then forget it."

He was thinking too much. At this moment, he couldn't possibly know anything... Yakumo Yukari sighed inwardly. Although she desperately wanted to reveal everything, she was using Cirno as her eyes and had seen much. The threat of reverse causality was beyond what her power could counteract; she couldn't say anything.

"The matter is resolved, so I'll be taking my leave," Yakumo Yukari said, pulling open a gap beside her and turning her back to Lin Luo.

"Eh! You're leaving already?" Lin Luo, who had been puzzling over her cryptic remark, was stunned. He had assumed Sister Zi wouldn't leave after showing up voluntarily.

Yakumo Yukari didn't answer, already halfway through the gap, but she turned her head, glancing sideways at Lin Luo. "Please don't forget, the golden ocean and the green earth."

"Wait! The coordinates!" Seeing Yakumo Yukari fully enter the gap, Lin Luo hurriedly called out.

Although he could now travel freely between worlds, he required world coordinates. If his contract with the maid leader were still active, she could instantly travel to Gensokyo. But the contract was void; if Yakumo Yukari didn't give him the coordinates, he would have to reach the Heavenly rank before he could visit Gensokyo.

However, Yakumo Yukari gave no indication of sharing coordinates, perhaps because she didn't know them herself—after all, she wasn't the master of that world. Just as the gap was closing, her faint voice drifted out: "I will send someone over soon, just like last time. Finally... the golden ocean and the green earth, you must never forget them."

Yakumo Yukari had arrived suddenly and left mysteriously, leaving Lin Luo completely baffled. When she said she would send someone over like last time, it confirmed that Cirno's appearance in the Moon World was her doing. But... what exactly were the golden ocean and the green earth, and why did he absolutely have to remember them?

Lin Xiaoke, Yakumo Yukari—they were all being cryptic, deliberately hiding things they wanted to say. He truly couldn't fathom what game they were playing... Uh!

Suddenly, Lin Luo remembered what Alaya had said not long ago: he was wrapped in many lines of reverse causality. Could this be related?

Once this thought struck him, Lin Luo didn't dare be careless, but he stopped dwelling on it. Whatever the situation, he would wait until Yakumo Yukari sent the person over. Everything, in the end, would come to light.

"Hey! How long are you planning to keep us tied up?"

Hatsune's angry voice suddenly reached his ears. Lin Luo suppressed all his doubts, smiling at her. "Of course, until you behave. Oh right, what is this rope? It's quite effective."

He directed this last question to Mikoto.

Mikoto replied, "The Ring of Heaven, given by Youyou."

"You ungrateful scoundrel! I helped you so much before! Damn you, damn you, damn you!" Seeing that Lin Luo had no intention of untying her, Hatsune immediately cursed him furiously.

Lin Luo crouched down in front of her. "It's true you helped me, but your reckless behavior also caused me a lot of trouble, so those cancel each other out. Moreover... you need to remember you're a Quasi-Heavenly rank. If I let you go now, who knows when I'll meet you again? Now that this incident is settled, if you go bother Xixi again, won't I just have to work harder?"

"So what do you want?" Hatsune's brow was tightly furrowed; she knew she was cornered and couldn't escape.

"Of course, I want to take you home for some proper discipline," Lin Luo said as a matter of course, reaching toward Hatsune's waist. "I saw you had a lot of treasures just now; let me check now, so you don't rely on props to escape later."

"Hmph, only I can open my Dimensional Pocket. Don't waste your effort."

"Is that so?" Lin Luo slid his hand into her pocket. It was just an ordinary pocket, backed by a layer of soft flesh, warm... Lin Luo instinctively patted the soft flesh a few times.

"Pervert! Don't touch!" Hatsune's face immediately changed, and she roared, but Lin Luo didn't stop; he continued exploring her waist.

"Hahaha... Stop touching... Hahaha... You bastard..." Hatsune was ticklish, laughing and cursing at the same time.

Lin Luo got carried away, momentarily forgetting the main point.

Bzzzt!

A sharp crackle of electricity sounded right next to his ear. Lin Luo shuddered internally, instantly coming to his senses. He immediately stood up, declaring righteously, "Very well, her Dimensional Pocket is unusable. Let's take them back now."

"Hmph!" Mikoto snorted coldly, grabbed Hatsune's body, and vanished. As she left, the stage disappeared with them.

Lin Luo shrugged, hoisting Haruhi over his shoulder. Seeing that she hadn't said a word, he felt curious. "What's wrong? Aren't you protesting?"

The leader being this quiet was unscientific!

"Protest what? Discipline sounds quite interesting," Haruhi replied excitedly. "I've always been the one playing tricks; switching roles now feels rather fun."

"..."

Lin Luo was left speechless. The sadist leader had turned masochistic. This was truly... perhaps, it would indeed be very interesting.

PS: The next chapter begins Volume Fourteen. It might be quite late, as every new volume is a new beginning, and... I ask again for the Light of the Great God. My current ranking is too precarious.