After entering the Zither Goddess' immortal cave, Xiao Hua and the others immediately began looking around.
However, they quickly realized that besides the teleport formation, there was essentially nothing else inside the immortal cave.
"There's nothing in here…" Song Ling'er was left speechless by this discovery, as she has always believed that there were treasures inside the immortal cave.
Meanwhile, Feng Yuxiang took her time analyzing the formation on the ground despite not being an expert.
"I'm no formation expert, but by the looks of it, this formation is a one-way teleport formation, and judging by the complexity of the design, it's a fairly powerful one."
"Can you tell where it took Brother Yuan?" Xiao Hua asked her.
"Unfortunately, only the creator of this formation would have this information." Feng Yuxiang shook her head.
"Then is there any way to activate it?" Lan Yingying asked.
"You can normally activate a teleport formation by pouring enough spiritual energy inside it, but there are also formations that only activate under certain circumstances. We can try injecting our spiritual energy into this formation, but I don't have any hopes it'll do anything."
"Stand back." Xiao Hua said as she began pouring her spiritual energy into the formation.
However, no matter how much spiritual energy she fed the formation, it remained inactive.
"You said the Young Master played some sort of song with the zither before he was teleported away?" Feng Yuxiang turned to ask Song Ling'er, who nodded.
"Yes, that's what my disciples who were with him at that time said."
Feng Yuxiang sighed and said, "Unless we have a formation master to analyze this formation, we won't be able to tell where it took him, but I doubt there are any formation masters in the Lower Heaven that is skilled enough to handle this formation."
"Is there really nothing we can do?" Lan Yingying asked.
"Unfortunately." Feng Yuxiang shook her head.
"But this is the Young Master that we're talking about. He will be fine no matter where he went. I just hope that he'll return soon."
Meanwhile, in the Fifth Heaven, Yuan was sent to his personal room after the feast.
"If you need anything, just let us know. We'll have someone guarding outside around the clock for you." The Dragon King said to him before leaving.
"Wait a minute." Yuan stopped him before he left.
"Do you know of a Zither Goddess?" He then asked.
"Zither Goddess? I do not, but I can try asking around."
"Is that so… Thank you." Yuan nodded.
Once he was alone, Yuan laid on the bed with a pondering face.
'What should I do now? Even though this is a great chance for me to climb the Nine Heavens, I cannot just leave everyone behind.'
Although he was given this rare chance of skipping four entire realms, allowing him to ascend much faster than other people, he didn't want to leave Xiao Hua and the others behind— he couldn't.
"If only there's something that can help me return…" Yuan sighed out loud as he closed his eyes.
After a few minutes of silence, Yuan suddenly opened his eyes in a snapping manner, almost like he'd realized something.
He then jumped off the bed and began searching inside his Dragon Spatial Ring.
A few moments later, Yuan retrieved a small round object from the Dragon Spatial Ring, and it resembled a marble.
'This is the life-saving treasure that Elder Xuan gave me when I was still a disciple at the Dragon Essence Temple. He said that it could teleport me back to the sect no matter where I am…' Yuan recalled the Dragon Marble that Elder Xuan had given him.
However, he then recalled something else— that it would only work within the Lower Heavens.
'Ah! I forgot! He also mentioned that it would only work if I am within the Lower Heavens…'
After staring at the Dragon Marble for a good moment, Yuan decided to still give it a try without having much hope that it will work.
Yuan took a deep breath and began pouring his spiritual energy into the Dragon Marble.
The Dragon Marble immediately began emitting a bright and golden light that reached every corner inside the room Yuan was in.
Yuan could feel the Dragon Marble in his hands quickly heating up, and before he could react, it suddenly exploded into countless fragments, causing the light to intensify many times.
It got so bright that it blinded Yuan, who felt like he was being pointed in every direction by powerful flashlights.
The light began diminishing a few moments later, allowing Yuan to see again.
When Yuan finally opened his eyes and could see his surroundings again, he was surprised to find himself surrounded by people wearing familiar-looking clothes.
"T-They are… Disciples of the Dragon Essence Temple? Did the treasure really bring me back to the sect? I thought it only worked if I was within the Lower Heavens?" Yuan mumbled to himself in a daze.
Indeed, Yuan had been teleported back to the Dragon Essence Temple after using the Dragon Marble.
As for why Elder Xuan said that the Dragon Marble could only be used within the Lower Heavens, it was simply because he didn't know that it could be used even outside the Lower Heaven, as nobody has tried it before until Yuan.
"W-Who are you?! Where did you come from?!" The disciples around Yuan began shouting at him when they snapped out of their daze.
'Judging by their uniform, they should be Outer Court disciples… Anyways, I should hurry up and return to the Heavenly Melody Academy.' Yuan decided to ignore these disciples and return to the Heavenly Melody Academy, shocking the disciples when he suddenly started flying without any flying treasures.
Meanwhile, at the Heavenly Melody Academy, Feng Yuxiang and the others were just about to leave the sect when they suddenly stopped their movements.
"I can sense the Young Master's presence again! The Young Master has returned!" Feng Yuxiang exclaimed in an excited voice.
"What?!" Song Ling'er's eyes widened with shock by this unexpected news.