Dual Cultivation God Returns Chapter 1023: There’s a time to be prudent, and a time to...

Wu Long shared a meal with Nie Xiwang at a high-end restaurant, their typical date night he arranged with each of his women whenever the opportunity and desire arose.

Yet midway through the dinner, Wu Long's face suddenly stiffened before shifting into a mixed expression. "Sorry, Xiwang. Trouble's approaching this place, so tonight could get unpleasant shortly," he said.

Surprise flickered across her features at first, but she quickly realized he had gotten word from his subordinates about an incident in the city.

"Does it pose a tough problem?" she asked, noticing the confusion mixed with irritation in his gaze.

"Hmm, it could," he replied with a thoughtful look. "The Young Master from Iron Claw City, the one mentioned at today's meeting, is coming here according to the surveillance team watching him."

Her eyes sharpened as scenarios raced through her thoughts. "Are we sure he's aiming for us?"

"He's a ways off still, but after altering his path, the route he's on points directly here, making it highly likely. I haven't figured the how or why yet—the reports lack details since it unfolded right on the street, it seems."

"So even if we dodge a clash now, he could just tail us elsewhere or later," she agreed, recognizing it wasn't mere chance.

Understanding the reasons behind it was key to grasping the full picture and crafting a sharper counter. Yet while her mind churned through those angles...

He grinned. "Avoid confrontation?"

Her eyebrow arched. "Wouldn't facing him directly right now ripple across the bigger scheme? You weren't set on provoking the Iron Claw Group so soon..."

"Spot on, and yes, steering clear would be the smart, cautious move," he affirmed, his eyes still twinkling with that smile.

"But that's not what you intend," she grinned back, spotting the resolve in his gaze—the same spark she had felt the instant she heard the news.

"Everything has its season," Wu Long laughed lightly. "A season for caution, and a season to shatter things."

Right from the start, her thoughts had swirled with grand strategies on the city's dynamics, Wu Long's schemes, the continental landscape, and all its tangled threads. Still, she couldn't ignore the fury boiling inside at this brazen intrusion on her time with him.

She had suppressed her inherent arrogance to embrace logical restraint, aiming for the 'wise' path forward.

Now it hit her that Wu Long wrestled the same battle between cold logic and raw feeling—not just here, but always. His calculated poise merely masked it. He excelled at placing precise reason above impulse, yet those impulses burned all the same.

"I'm not above getting annoyed, particularly at this kind of rude disruption during our special time..." he confessed what she suspected, then clasped her hand in his, gazing deeply into her eyes. "Remember what I said in that throne room?"

He didn't name the moment, but she recalled it vividly—the day she claimed her place as his woman, casting aside layers of tangled excuses and chains to pursue her true desires unbound.

The haze of concern and intricate plots cleared from her eyes, replaced by steely resolve, and he beamed, lifting her hand to brush a kiss across her fingers. "There's my Blade Empress."

A smile bloomed on her face too, invigorated and even deeper in her wild passion for him.

He rose, her hand still in his. "Ready?"

"Why thank you," she replied, rising with his aid and letting out a soft giggle.

Together, hand in hand, they stepped from the room.

They appeared serene and joyful, chatting with smiles, yet an unseen, potent aura radiated from them, heavy and inescapable.

Nie Xiwang paused in thought. "We're finishing dinner after this, right? I won't let this ruin the rest of our date."

"Naturally, it'll wrap up fast anyway."

"You figure it'll just be a quick clash or stare-down?" she laughed, now musing playfully.

"I doubt it", he shrugged, his voice equally laid-back and unconcerned, "We’ll need to check the circumstances first to confirm... though I generally put faith in Zhao Biren’s reports and assessments of character"

"Indeed", she agreed with a nod, recalling the discussion from earlier that morning, "If that evaluation holds true, letting him off with just a warning or pushing him back will only lead to more pointless trouble down the line, turning him into a rogue element—it’s wiser to eliminate him outright and ignite open conflict with his faction"

"While handling someone far more foreseeable"

"Won’t that pile extra strain on your ally? He’ll shoulder the main impact, right?"

"Yuanjie? He’ll manage just fine~, no real danger or injury will come to him, merely some scheming and psychological strain—it’s actually beneficial"

"Beneficial?", her eyebrows arched upward.

"Yep~, he’s grown a tad complacent following yesterday’s massive clash victory, a fresh dose of tension will sharpen his focus perfectly for the big auction ahead"

"Hehe~, what a considerate companion you are"

"Had no idea? All my friends across the Seven Boundless Worlds adore sticking with me, I got that praise constantly back then, about what an amazing buddy I make"

They strolled casually toward the restaurant’s entryway, a charming, broad walkway of massive smooth slabs over delicate pebbles between the outer wall’s gates and the single-story structure’s grand door, flanked by vibrant gardens on either side and bordered by a line of softly glowing stone lanterns lining the path.

They paused on the short veranda before the paired entrance doors, interior lights from the eatery casting outlines around their forms, shadows stretching across the stone slabs and gravel of the path beneath.

It wasn’t long before the group, now headed by Tiezhu Bo in person, emerged into the outer gates’ archway.

The instant his gaze landed on Nie Xiwang, his eyes gleamed with excitement, "Damn, the gossip was spot on! Never laid eyes on one like her before!"

His crew advanced onto the pavement without pause, save for one who lingered beyond the gates.

Yet the stunning woman arched her brow with icy demeanor, "I never granted the likes of you leave to stare at me that way—or even glance my way at all"

The youth stiffened briefly, then his grin broadened as a menacing glint flickered in his gaze, "Oh~ a spirited type, huh? That’s my favorite kind too. Particularly the instant-..."

"Keep talking like that and you’ll truncate our short encounter even more", Wu Long sighed while shaking his head, foreseeing the upcoming words that would slam this meeting to a sudden violent close if voiced, "I at least hoped for a quick chat. Initially, to offer you a shot at departing peacefully. This is it. Turn back now, no extra chatter or theatrics, nothing, and I’ll drop it here. But... if you refuse to leave, I’d like to grasp how you wound up here... mind explaining if you’re staying?"

"And who the fu-... shit! What the-...!", only then did Tiezhu Bo register the man beside the captivating beauty who had seized his focus, and as he adjusted his stare a bit, he jolted in surprise, whirling to his followers while jabbing a finger at Wu Long, "You lot seeing this? That face for real?"

"Young Mas-...", yet the Iron Claw Group members’ eyes bulged in astonishment and warning for some cause as a grip clamped his pointing finger.

A sharp snap echoed with a piercing yelp of agony as he dropped to his knees, glancing up to find Wu Long looming casually overhead, one arm tucked behind his back while the other twisted and shattered the digit.

"Never learned it’s rude to jab with your finger?", Wu Long’s voice stayed serene as ever, "Skip replying, I can guess. But I’m still awaiting your response to my initial query—how’d you end up showing up here?"