"Hey, Yuan, before you leave, can we play the zither again for a bit?" Fei Yuyan suddenly asked him after a moment of awkward silence.
"Of course." He immediately agreed.
"Let's do it at my backyard like we used to."
"Okay."
Fei Yuyan turned to look at Elder Shan and said, "I'm sorry, Master, but I will end my training early today."
"Do as you please." Elder Shan nodded.
Yuan then followed Fei Yuyan back to her living quarters.
Once they were in the backyard, they sat down beside each other with their zither out.
"The Soul Ensnaring Zither? What happened to the Divine-grade zither you obtained at the competition?" Fei Yuyan asked him.
"Oh, that thing? I sold it." Yuan casually said.
"Y-You sold a Divine-grade treasure…?" Fei Yuyan's eyes widened with disbelief.
"I didn't need it since I already have the Soul Ensnaring Zither, and I needed the money back then." Yuan shrugged.
"But the Soul Ensnaring Zither isn't really a treasure…"
"While that is true, it still performs the same if not a little better than the Divine-grade zither."
"In the end, it's not like I will be using it as a weapon, so it really doesn't matter to me."
"I guess so…"
"Anyways, which song should we play first?" Yuan then asked.
"I am fine with any song."
"Then why don't we play the songs that we played during our practice session before the zither competition?" Yuan suggested.
"Sure." Fei Yuyan nodded.
A few moments later, they began playing the zither together, and they would spend the next few hours playing without any breaks.
At the end of their duet, Fei Yuyan stood up and bowed to him, "Thank you for playing with me."
"There's no need to thank me. We're partners, remember?" Yuan said with a smile on his face.
"Partners…" Although Fei Yuyan knew that Yuan was only talking about their partnership for the zither competition, it still made her incredibly happy to hear such words coming from him.
"Are you going to leave now?" She then asked him.
"Not yet. I still have to visit Xuan Wuhan before I can leave."
"I understand. Once again, good luck with the Stairway to Heaven, Yuan."
"Thank you."
After saying their goodbyes to each other, Yuan made his way to Xuan Wuhan's living quarters.
"Hm?" Yuan noticed a figure standing outside Xuan Wuhan's living quarter when he approached it, and it turned out to be Xuan Wuhan herself.
"Yuan!" Xuan Wuhan immediately called out to him when she noticed his figure.
"Hello. Are you waiting for somebody?"
"Yes— you! I heard from my grandfather that you have returned to the sect, and I figured that you might visit me, so I have been waiting for you since then." Xuan Wuhan said with a bright smile on her face.
"Waiting for me? What if I didn't show up?" Yuan chuckled.
"Then I would have chased you down!"
After laughing a bit, Xuan Wuhan said, "Even though I have known you for less than a year, it feels like we've been friends forever."
"Good luck with the Stairway to Heaven, Yuan. With your talents, I'm sure you'll be able to pass it without any issues."
And she continued, "Hey, Yuan, this may be a bit sudden, but do you want to grab something to eat at the Dragon Pavilion before you leave?"
"Of course! I was actually thinking about returning to that place too."
"Then let's go!"
Xuan Wuhan and Yuan proceeded to head to the Dragon Pavilion for a feast.
As usual, Yuan ordered the entire menu without hesitation.
After they finished eating, Yuan said his goodbyes to Xuan Wuhan.
"Yuan… I will definitely try to ascend the Stairway to Heaven in the future— with my own strength. Although I already know that it's not likely to happen, I will still try to catch up with you."
"Good luck to you. I really hope to see you again." Yuan nodded.
"Of course."
After talking for a little longer, Yuan returned to Long Yijun and the other sect elders to say his final goodbyes with them.
"Goodbye, everyone. I will never forget my experience as a disciple in the sect." Yuan bowed to them.
"And we'll never forget having a disciple like you, Yuan." Long Yijun and the others returned his bow.
Yuan left the Dragon Essence Temple shortly after.
"Where to now, Young Master?"
"The Min Family to pick up Min Li," he calmly replied.
Then he realized that he didn't have their location.
"I should have asked them about the Min Family's location before I left…" Yuan sighed.
"The Min Family, right? I know where they are located. In fact, they used to be frequent customers of mine." Feng Yuxiang suddenly said.
"That's great."
"Follow me."
Feng Yuxiang then led Yuan and the others to a nearby city to use their teleport formation.
A couple of hours later, they arrived in Min City, and just by the name itself, anyone could tell that it was the Min Family who governs this land.
After entering the city, Feng Yuxiang led Yuan straight to the Min Family's headquarters, which was located at the center of the city.
"That large and red building over there is the Min Family, Young Master." Feng Yuxiang pointed to the obvious building in the distance that stuck out like a sore thumb.
"Alright. Let's go."
Yuan approached the guards standing by the gates, and as expected of one of the Seven Legacy Families, they don't play around with security, as there were dozens of guards surrounding the place, and they were only the ones working at the gates.
"W-What business do you have with the Min Family?" The guards there asked him when they got close enough, but they appeared to be a little bit flustered for some reason.
However, if one looked at the direction of their gazes, that reason would become obvious.
Of course, they were flustered after seeing the beauties with Yuan.