Although Lin Luo had grasped the true meaning of life, to the extent that he could create something from nothing even after death, calling him invincible was still an overstatement. After all, Heavenly Rank experts could already disregard the world's established view, and even with Lin Luo's supposed immortality, he couldn't gain any advantage against them; at best, he simply couldn't be killed.

Furthermore, experts in the second stage of the Heavenly Rank could influence the very concept of the world. Even if they couldn't annihilate the concept of 'nothingness,' a slight alteration in the concept could render Lin Luo's existence worse than death—eternal sealing, for instance.

For example, Evangeline possessed a technique called Eternal Freezing. Those encased in ice wouldn't die, and their consciousness would remain perfectly clear, but they would be utterly unable to break free, trapped forever. This was undoubtedly a despair worse than death.

Therefore, if Lin Luo encountered experts at the second stage of the Heavenly Rank, those at the Fourth Heaven or above, he would be in extreme danger.

Of course, following the usual trope of third-rate novels, when the protagonist is still at V1, they absolutely will not encounter enemies above V3. At most, they might face countless powerful V2 enemies, but those enemies would never cross paths with the protagonist. Even if one or two genuinely unbeatable experts appeared, those experts would likely not be antagonists, or they would suffer a massive drop in IQ, refraining from instantly eliminating the protagonist and instead allowing him to develop slowly… Thus, following this theory, there was no need to worry about Lin Luo running into enemies at the second Heavenly Rank stage or higher, otherwise, the story would end prematurely.

"I don't know why, but I suddenly have a bad feeling." Forget second-stage Heavenly Rank experts; shortly after the great battle of the proxy gods concluded, Lin Luo couldn't even imagine encountering a Heavenly Rank expert. Yet, on the way to the Hakurei Shrine, he felt an inexplicable chill.

"What, have you gone mad?" Lili asked, with a hint of expectation in her tone. To be honest, she felt a little envious and resentful. Her more than a month of effort hadn't even matched Lin Luo's seven days of fruit; it was incredibly disheartening. If Lin Luo were to suffer a minor case of Qi deviation right now... it might balance her feelings a bit.

So it went... the saying that women are dark-hearted was absolutely true.

Lin Luo shook his head, dashing Lili's hopes. "No... just a sudden feeling that something terrifying awaits me at the Hakurei Shrine... Ah, wait, I think I already know roughly what's going on."

Lin Luo spoke as he walked... With his current Perception Domain, it wasn't difficult for him to observe scenes miles away if he focused his mind. He had only said half of it; through sensing their auras, he had already grasped the general situation at the Hakurei Shrine.

Lin Luo felt this was quite alarming. After all, so many girls were gathered there, and nearly a third of them shared some level of ambiguous, warm relationship with him. If he charged in recklessly, it might be hard to manage... This situation... absolutely needed to be broken!

"Lili, you go to the shrine first... I'll be there later," Lin Luo said after a moment of thought.

Although Lili didn't know what he planned to do, she didn't refuse. She nodded and walked toward the Hakurei Shrine alone.

The Hakurei Shrine was bustling at the moment. Besides the few names already reported, almost everyone famous in Gensokyo, be they humans or Youkai, had assembled. Even some who rarely showed themselves had made a rare appearance... like Hina Kakuyan or a certain cursed Shinigami, among others. Of course, aside from the few individuals immune to misfortune, very few dared to approach Hina Kakuyan. Even some immensely powerful Great Youkai kept a wide berth... Although Hina Kakuyan's personal strength wasn't high, the status conferred by being an 'Evil God' gave her abilities that were too overwhelmingly powerful.

If Hina Kakuyan joined the fray, it would clearly be the protagonist's template in action.

A large portion of the attendees came for the lively atmosphere, but a small fraction were there because of the banquet's theme... Though it seemed many had forgotten the theme, it was worth mentioning: the theme was to welcome Lin Luo back to Gensokyo for a second visit.

To showcase her approachability and mature stability, the Eldest Miss had specially prepared a large red banner... Ah, apologies, the banner had already been thoroughly mangled by the Second Miss and was currently serving as playthings for Cirno and a few idiotic fairies.

... In light of this, the banquet seemed to be merely the Eldest Miss's own idea of fun.

"When will I finally see Father-sama? Sigh!" Suigintou sat alone in a corner of the banquet, watching the lively scene with indifference, sighing softly.

"Big sister, want to play together?" Just then, Suigintou heard a voice beside her. She turned to see a little girl, about her own height, standing next to her with an expression of pure innocence.

"Ah... it's you!" Suigintou's expression immediately became complicated.

This little girl was naturally Mell, who was extremely popular at this banquet. Almost everyone who saw her wanted to hug her or kiss her. Having barely escaped the entanglement of the adults and then evaded the harassment of the idiotic fairies, she spotted Suigintou sitting forlornly in the corner and approached her proactively.

Suigintou froze, unsure how to respond. Although she had been residing in the Demon World for the past two years and had visited Gensokyo no more than three times, this didn't prevent her from knowing about Hakurei Mell. At least, she wouldn't be unaware of the most crucial fact... this girl was also Father-sama's daughter.

So, despite having different races, in a sense, she was her sister.

Suigintou thought this, equally unsure how to face this sister, because in her memory, sisters were not beings who loved each other dearly but rather enemies who had to fight, defeat, and kill one another. Although she had recently become sisters with Alice, in reality, they were more like friends... Thus, when Mell, a true sister, appeared before her, she felt somewhat lost.

"Big sister, aren't you coming to play?" Seeing she didn't react, little Mell asked again, her expression showing a hint of loss.

"That..." Suigintou felt conflicted, unable to articulate what she wanted to say next. However, looking at Mell's innocent expression, the slight hostility she initially felt immediately vanished.

She is different from us Rozen Maidens. The meaning of the Rozen Maidens' existence is to become the perfect Rozen Maiden; that is why all sisters must wage war. But Mell doesn't need to become perfect because she is human, so... she is Father-sama's daughter, a sister, and nothing else.

With this thought, Suigintou's mind cleared, and a faint smile touched her lips. "What do you like to play?"

"Drawing manga. My dream is to become a mangaka." Mell smiled radiantly and then produced a stack of manuscript paper from behind her back, offering it to Suigintou. "Big sister, look, this is the comic I drew."

"Oh, let me take a quick look... Eh!" Suigintou reached out and accepted it, but the moment her eyes landed on the first page, she froze. The title of the manga was—Rozen Maiden!

Suigintou immediately looked up, staring at Mell with her mouth agape.

"This is a comic I drew for you, Big Sister," Mell maintained her cheerful smile.

A comic drawn for her?

Suigintou was momentarily stunned. Her circumstances were hardly a secret in Gensokyo, so it wasn't surprising that Mell knew about her. But... with a strange, inexplicable emotion, Suigintou lowered her head to read the comic. The protagonist was the seven Rozen Maidens. Suigintou could clearly recognize the lonely figure sitting atop a tree branch gazing at the moon as herself. The other six Rozen Maidens were also very similar to the sisters in her memory, which surprised Suigintou somewhat... She had only briefly mentioned Shinku and the others' appearances; for this little one to depict them so vividly was truly impressive.

Suigintou continued reading. Ten minutes later, her gaze stopped on the final page, the conclusion of the entire comic... The seven Rozen Maidens sat around a table laden with snacks, all of them eating, talking, and laughing happily, filled with joy.

No! This girl came prepared!

Seeing this scene, Suigintou was greatly alarmed. This comic, and her approaching to speak with her... Mell absolutely had an agenda!

At this moment, noticing that Suigintou had finished reading the comic, Mell looked at her with eager anticipation. "Big sister, is my comic good?"

"Uh... It's very good, thank you," Suigintou replied with a smile despite her confusion, though she did have strong opinions about the comic's ending.

Hearing the praise, Mell's smile broadened, and she cheerfully declared, "Big sister doesn't need to thank me, because true happiness is when everyone is happy together."

True happiness is when everyone is happy together?

Hearing these words, Suigintou showed a look of confusion again. She looked at Mell's sunshine-like smile, and instinctively thought of herself, then looked down at the first page of the comic... the lonely, solitary self, and then flipped to the last page... the self laughing happily with her sisters, filled with joy.

Is true happiness when everyone is happy together?

Father-sama also seemed to have said something similar.

Suddenly, Suigintou understood something—the meaning behind Mell's comic, and the significance of her proactively approaching her, wasn't simply about playing; it was...

"You truly came prepared; it was my mistake to treat you as an ordinary two-year-old child." Suigintou raised her head and looked at Mell seriously. But after a few seconds, a radiant smile, just like the ending in the comic, warm and blissful, spread across her face.

"I'm truly defeated by you. As expected of Father-sama's daughter."