Dual Cultivation God Returns Chapter 1040: A block of ice into hot tea

The cloaked figure Steward Lee had been blocking witnessed the pitiful state a single strike from mysterious strangers left him in. Realizing the opportunity to exploit the turmoil had vanished, he seized the distraction as Steward Lee surveyed the chaos and slipped away from the area.

Steward Lee's initial urge was to give chase, yet he held back, placing the immediate crisis ahead of any pursuit.

Still, he didn't act rashly, instead opting for a calm and measured evaluation of the scene.

Jian Hao was merely confined—uninjured—and Jian Yu was inexplicably shielded, permitted to gain his enlightenment.

The other Crimson Arrow Manor members, trapped in ice, were obviously still breathing, immobilized in a bizarre slumber akin to stasis since their Soul Seas had been briefly iced over, preventing thought and awareness of their plight or surroundings.

Those behind this oddity... bafflingly embraced one another right in the center of the mayhem, leaving Steward Lee utterly perplexed.

A man and two women formed the trio, all masked, though the man's was a standard concealment type, the one likely behind the frozen zone sported a crudely shaped ice mask, and the other donned a white fox festival mask accented with red lines covering mostly the upper face.

Steward Lee descended slowly and cautiously, signaling peaceful intent, "Fellow Daoists... thank you for aiding us in our hour of need..."

The masked man pivoted toward him, the women following suit, yet somehow their demeanor soured slightly toward him just as the man released his reluctant hold on them.

"Rarely does a Heavenly Dao grant such a precious chance, and it would be tragic if the destined recipient missed it", Wu Long declared while Xue Bing and Fen Baihu shot odd glances at this brazen fellow who'd recently voiced the opposite about this boon.

"Hahaha, crossing paths with upright and noble Daoists ready to thwart an outrage has truly been our luck", Steward Lee saluted with a cupped fist, bowing to each of the three in turn with appreciation.

Fen Baihu nearly laughed out loud hearing Wu Long labeled 'righteous,' and he sensed her gaze piercing the back of his head.

"Yet one among you lost clarity amid such fortune", Wu Long shifted his eyes to Jian Hao, frozen solid with the binding chains.

"Ah~... pardon our Young Master Hao. Youth and fiery blood guide him. Those two just competed—... oh, and here they come"

"Steward Lee!!!", the distant warriors and servants dispatched to gather hunt spoils, arriving late, bellowed from afar.

"All's under control! Hold back! The matter's settled...", Steward Lee called out, hand raised to halt them, then eyed the iced attackers amid their own frozen allies.

"They're due to...", Wu Long noted as faint cracks echoed, the outer ice shells twitching, beginning to shatter their fragile prisons though sluggishly and utterly bewildered.

"Seize those culprits!", Steward Lee ordered the returning prey collectors, who sprang into action at once, before fixing on Wu Long again, "As I mentioned, the pair had a contest, so Young Master Hao's rivalry burns hot, and witnessing fortune fall to his foe... a fleeting lapse. I don't justify it—his conduct was improper..."

"Despicable and base conduct", Xue Bing affirmed with her typical directness, nearly making Steward Lee's eyes bulge at the severity, shattering the courteous strangerly rapport built on this brief alliance, leaving him puzzled at what might have irked her.

"Hahaha... y-yes, exactly... though we get it. No judgments here, merely passersby who offered aid", Wu Long chuckled awkwardly, replying in a soothing, empathetic voice to smooth things over, as Xue Bing nodded firmly in full accord.

"I-I see, haha... thank you for your magnanimity. And, I apologize if I somehow offended you, Young Miss", Steward Lee’s expression eased a touch as he realized he hadn’t angered the entire group, merely one member, clasping his hands toward Xue Bing in a friendly gesture.

"You didn’t", Xue Bing replied in her customary icy and flat tone, which appeared like fury to Steward Lee, making cold sweat form on his brow.

Behind Wu Long’s back, Fen Baihu reveled in the moment, valuing Xue Bing’s nearness to him during such scenes more with each passing instant.

Steward Lee persisted in his efforts, continuing, "I... I see... that is good to know. ...! Perhaps you would still like to know that Young Master Hao would be punished for this behavior. It’s not like we will just overlook it, hahaha"

"I see. I didn’t care, but thank you for explaining", the thanks at the close came across as mocking to the Jian Family’s steward amid that frigid delivery, stripping away his sense of her true apathy.

Suddenly facing the fluffy ice cocoon encasing Jian Yu, Wu Long spoke in a cheerful, vibrant voice, "Well look at that! He should be done soon, I guess we will see this through before going along on our way..."

’Ah, he’s thrown in the towel’, Fen Baihu reflected, already collapsing in giggles in her actual body while an illusion lingered in place, as Wu Long dropped all attempts to keep the dialogue alive.

"What? Ah~... y-yes~...", Steward Lee responded somewhat dazedly, still rattled from his exchange with the masked lady, frantically searching his mind for his blunder.

After his vague answer to Wu Long, he noticed Xue Bing eyeing him and offered an excessively warm smile pleading for her nod, met only with a frosty gaze before the ice-veiled woman averted her look.

"That man is a bit weird", Xue Bing murmured to Wu Long, who simply nodded, yearning for the youth in the frozen shell to wrap up his enlightenment fast, lest the Jian Family’s steward suffer a total meltdown.

That desire manifested right away, for Fen Baihu detected the shift in Jian Yu and withdrew her shielding fog, leaving just a delicate porous ice layer that crumbled at once without inner reinforcement.

"Wha-... what happened here?", the youth puffed out a steamy breath, quivering faintly as the abrupt weather plunge outpaced his bodily adjustment, staring wide-eyed at the snowy wasteland encircling him.