Although he's stupid, mean, worthy of death, and infuriating all the time—unless I put my life at stake, I probably really can't surpass that jerk in strength anytime soon.

At the thought of that, she became rather dejected and gloomy. She might not be as powerful as she had been in the past and her body might only be that of a mortal tiger, but she was still the great Paragon of Tigers.

Yet, she actually couldn't beat that jerk. Be it their cultivation realm or their strength, he had outdone her the whole time.

Even if this was undoubtedly just temporary and that she would definitely return to a state that surpassed him when she reached the Divine Body Realm, this family… no, Big Treasure and Little Treasure ultimately still mainly needed that jerk to protect them.

Hmph! Hmph! Hmph! Hmph!

She secretly snorted for an infinite number of times inwardly to vent her frustrations.

However, after that, she calmed down nevertheless and started to think about how she could enhance that jerk's strength in a faster way.

The jerk was right. If the humans were really seeking an alliance with them because they were facing increasingly huge pressure, then that meant this world was indeed becoming more and more dangerous.

Disregarding everything else, just the fact that once the spiritual energy density level reached a level capable of supporting the Divine Body Realm and Divine Body Realm cultivators from that alternate world invaded Earth, thereby causing China to activate their nuclear weapons; they would have to move away from this place.

She knew her own situation very well. Although the power of her soul origin had been quietly modifying her current body all this while, the amount of soul origin she had left was ultimately too little. There was too little time, and the spiritual energy density level was also too low.

Her cultivation speed had already reached the fastest it could go. It was impossible to speed it up any further before she attained the Divine Body Realm.

On the other hand, it was possible to speed up the jerk's.

As she thought about it, solutions popped up one by one in her mind but were all rejected.

These solutions all needed external objects to work, but she didn't have a single one on her at all.

Some solutions didn't require any external objects, but they affected the cultivator's foundation so she subconsciously rejected all of them.

Wang Hu was amused as he watched Silly Girl's facial expression that occasionally turned dejected, indignant, and serious before finally turning into one of deep thought. Silly Girl must be thinking of something related to him again. Who knew how she might even be dissing him in her mind at the moment?

However, surely, there wasn't really some kind of way to quickly attain the Divine Body Realm or to speed up one's cultivation rate, right?

He had merely happened to think of it and blurted it out spontaneously, and he was just habitually sounding her out a little… that's all.

A bit of anticipation arose in him, and he waited quietly.

A brief moment later, Di Baijun returned to reality from her thoughts, with somewhat of a frown on her face. She actually couldn't think of any solution that didn't depend on external objects and also didn't affect one's cultivation foundation.

When she noticed the jerk watching her, she said with some displeasure, "The Divine Body Realm is the Divine Body Realm's foundation. How can one possibly attain it so easily? Shortcuts and whatnot are all just heretical methods."

Wang Hu wasn't disappointed. He nodded and said seriously out of habit, "Mm, it's not a big deal even if there isn't one. Don't worry, Baijun. No matter what, I'll definitely protect you, Big Treasure, and Little Treasure. Our family will never leave each other. If anyone wants to harm any of you, they can do it over my dead body."

He suppressed the bit of embarrassment and shame that arose within him in a practiced manner and spoke resolutely with his head held high and his chest puffed out. Then, he turned around and walked away confidently, leaving all the awkwardness and embarrassment to Silly Girl.

Di Baijun was so embarrassed that fury filled her in an instant.

What's that jerk saying?

Do I need you to protect me?

At the same time, she also instinctively glanced at Su Ling before she breathed a soft sigh of relief. Fortunately, that fox didn't understand what they were saying.

She shifted her gaze and glared at the back of that person, who was still just as resolute as before as though he was still immersed in his own words, before almost going mad.

Jerk!

The ground underneath her feet soundlessly cracked and broke significantly.

After stewing for a while, she shifted her gaze to the fox.

Su Ling, who was obediently accompanying the two little fellows, sensed her gaze at once and felt like crying.

That vicious tigress was here to make trouble for her again.

Roar~!

"Clean the whole place, both inside and outside."

True enough, that bossy voice reached her ears.

Su Ling turned around, lowered her head, and said softly, "Your Majesty, I've already cleaned the place just now."

Di Baijun glared at her.

Roar~!

"Then, clean it again."

"Yes," replied an aggrieved and timid Su Ling. Then, she went off to clean the place.

Di Baijun took another few looks at her, but when she realized that there was nothing she could nitpick about, she could only go off and cultivate in frustration.

Somewhere nearby, Wang Hu—who was already cultivating—felt zero psychological burden at the final exchange just now. He had already gotten used to it a long time ago.

Besides, no matter what, as long as he didn't express his embarrassment; Silly Girl would definitely feel even more embarrassed than him. After understanding this, embarrassment, shame, and whatnot were nothing to him anymore.

He was willing to leave all those to Silly Girl instead.

As for the cowardly tool of a fox, it was fine. Being capable was a blessing, and being able to work more was even more of a blessing.

It would be fine once she fully got used to it.

Meanwhile…

In the capital of China, Li Aimin was currently on the phone with Li Tong.

Li Aimin asked steadily, "How did it go?"

Li Tong replied solemnly, "We didn't receive any response."

"That's not surprising. Tigers are cautious by nature and that Tiger King is no exception, of course. It was already surprising that he helped us out of his own accord the last time.

"No matter how powerful the Hu County alternate world is, as long as it didn't cross him, he wouldn't be bothered by it. He knows very well that we, China, are the ones who are truly holding the fort at the forefront," said Li Aimin calmly.

Li Tong hesitated for a moment before he asked tentatively, "In that case, we…?"

"There's no need to be overly anxious about it either. Although the situation is getting more and more serious as each day goes by, we can still handle it for now.

"The suggestion of forming alliances with all the animal species has been brought up by the World Federation of the United Nations, but it is impossible to truly confirm it within a short time.

"The various animal species are ultimately still a little too weak so they aren't of much help to the various countries. Coupled with how the variable factors involved are too great, it's hard for the various countries to make up their minds anytime soon. The Tiger King is only an exception.

"We, China, haven't made up our minds yet either. No one knows for sure how strong the Third Realm exactly is. We have to wait for the scouting results to be released first.

"We're just testing the waters in advance a little now. It's just a precaution so that we're prepared, that's all," said Li Aimin slowly.

"Yes, I understand now," replied Li Tong.

"Yeah, you can focus on other things for now," added Li Aimin before he hung up.

After a moment of musing, Li Aimin went on to handle other work matters. He looked exceptionally busy.

As time went by, more and more animal species had broken through to the Second Realm.

Disregarding the ones outside of China, the overall strength of each species within the vast and resource-rich China was improving as each day went by.

The overall count of those innumerable animals was simply too great.

Even if they were to keep them under surveillance via satellite cameras at all times, they couldn't guarantee that they would find every single animal that broke through to the Second Realm.

The ones on land were still alright, but they couldn't be sure about those living in bodies of water and the oceans at all.

As a result, the Multi-Species Department's duties naturally snowballed. On top of that, he was also concurrently in charge of some work matters in other departments.

More than an hour later, the phone suddenly rang.

"Elder Li, the research institute has thoroughly improved the missiles and nuclear weapons to be used with regard to the Hu County alternate world and is currently mass manufacturing them. The leader has decided to officially conduct an evaluation of the Third Realm's level of strength half a month later."

A slightly respectful voice rang out at the other end of the phone.

Li Aimin's expression turned solemn at once. He replied somberly, "Alright, noted."

After he hung up, the look in Li Aimin's eyes turned contemplative. It was only a moment later that he lightly exhaled.

He knew that another incident that would very likely influence world trends… was about to happen.

The showdown that would make or break it would take place half a month later.

Everything would depend on how strong exactly the Third Realm was.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, the many cabinet leaders—including the majority of military higher management officials—gathered in one place. The others were also all watching a huge screen via video.

Pictured on the screen was a scientific research base nearby Hu County. Thousands of research scientists were currently busy at work.

Half a minute later, an elderly man—who looked to be in his sixties or seventies—appeared on the screen. In a voice that sounded neither anxious nor slow, he said, "Leader, all preparations are finished. We're just waiting for that Hui to return to detonate the A-bombs.

"If effects are lackluster, we'll go straight to detonating the C-missiles. If we still fail to bomb it to death, we'll detonate Grade 1, or even Grade 2, nuclear weapons.

"If nothing goes wrong, we'll have the final results in an hour."

Dong Pingtao nodded slightly and said steadily, "I'm leaving everything in your hands."

"Yes," replied the elderly man. Then, he turned around and gave the order for final preparations.

A man piloted a unique plane and entered the world passage.

Two minutes later, he reached a small base located in a remote valley about 500 kilometers away from the world passage connecting Earth and the Hu County alternate world.

There, about a hundred research scientists and several hundred soldiers were already on the alert and battle-ready. They were the ones carrying out the operation this time.

For the sake of this operation, China had spent a whole 1.5 years and more in preparation.

Ever since the Hu County incident, China had been all-out in its efforts to explore the alternate world.

Fortunately, Huis lived by themselves and rarely teamed up. Although there was a Third Realm Hui nearby the world passage, its territory was actually very big. Upon realizing that it couldn't enter the alternate world, it hadn't bothered to keep watch there.

This provided China with a great opportunity. Over one and a half years and more, they had explored the alternate world, built a base, evaluated various things about the world, developed their science and technology, modified their weapons, and put together a plan.

After more than a year and a half, they had finally completed all those tasks.

Currently, the most important thing to China, who was faced with the situation where the spiritual energy density level within their borders would very soon reach a point capable of supporting the Third Realm, was to evaluate how strong exactly the Third Realm was.

Ten minutes later, a black dot suddenly appeared on the huge screen at the front of the base and approached extremely quickly—it was a Hui.

Its arms—when extended—measured a good 60-odd meters, and its shoulder height measured roughly 30-odd meters. A flap of its wings allowed it to travel a distance of several hundred meters, and it moved so quickly that there was no way normal people could see it clearly at all.

Everyone in the base—who was watching—tensed up at once, and they watched the screen closely.

A few seconds later, when the Hui passed by a mountain peak, someone several kilometers away pressed a button.

Boom!

Fire shot high into the sky. Countless stones and rocks from the mountain broke and fell as the peak shook. Although the Hui that was only 30-odd meters away from the explosion site managed to react at the very last moment, it was nevertheless too late and pretty much suffered the full blow of the explosion.