As for it taking a long time…

After a moment's thought, Wang Hu still went ahead and asked, "Sure. How long will I need to stand guard? I'll make some preparations in advance for it. I'm always willing to stand guard for you even through my whole life, Baijun."

The happy Di Baijun, who was currently sporting a rather challenging look in her eyes, turned angry and embarrassed all at once.

She was itching to send her front paw flying toward Wang Hu, but instead, she glanced at the fox, Big Treasure, and Little Treasure nearby, gritted her teeth, and replied furiously, "About a month."

As though he didn't notice anything, Wang Hu thought of something and nodded after he got the answer he wanted. Then, he frowned and said, "Baijun, you said that I'll have to stay at peak-level Transformation Realm for half a year before I can possibly break through. I don't think it'll take that long, right? I broke through to the Transformation Realm so easily back then."

"Hah." At once, Di Baijun sneered and said contemptuously, "Can breaking through to the Divine Body Realm possibly be the same as breaking through to the Transformation Realm? I'm already holding you in high esteem when I estimated that you'll take half a year."

Had she not taken into consideration what had happened that night, there was no way she would have even given him the estimation of half a year.

How could breaking through to the Divine Body Realm without the help of any external aid possibly be that easy?

"In that case, why are you able to break through in a month, Baijun?" Wang Hu sounded rather indignant.

Di Baijun glared at him. Was he actually comparing himself to her?

The next moment, however, she became a little distracted.

This was the very first time in all these years that the shameless jerk was actually verbally fighting back instead of adopting that tiresome attitude that not only made her angry and embarrassed but also made her feel too tired to even do anything about it.

All of a sudden, a great deal of fighting spirit—and even some excitement—welled up in her. It was as though ardor and zeal were coursing through her blood.

How dare that shameless jerk not admit defeat? She specialized exactly in 'curing' his refusal to admit defeat.

She replied coldly and bossily, "Hmph, this is me we're talking about. Even the Ground Limits Realm won't daunt me in the least, let alone the Divine Body Realm."

Wang Hu blinked. Was the Ground Limits Realm the next step after the Divine Body Realm?

His look of refusal to admit defeat intensified, and he said confidently, "In that case, it definitely won't daunt me at all either."

"Hah." Di Baijun narrowed her eyes slightly and sneered. That shameless jerk really was bent on arguing with her. Well done, well done.

He sure had gotten gutsy. Well done indeed.

"Fine, I'm going to see just how it won't hold you back."

Her contempt and haughtiness were exhibited to their fullest.

Nearby, even Su Ling—who was pretending to watch cartoons with the two little fellows but was, in fact, paying attention to them the whole time—became rather fearful.

What was the matter with that vicious tigress? Why did she look like she was so full of vigor and fighting spirit?

"What if I can also break through to the Divine Body Realm within a month of attaining peak-level Transformation Realm?" asked a stubborn and confident Wang Hu.

Di Baijun sneered again. She became even more fired up and even fuller of fighting spirit as if she had returned to the time back when she had been the Paragon of Tigers.

With an incredibly strong, majestic, and powerful momentum around her; she said, "If you can do it, I'll admit that I've underestimated you. What do you want? Tell me, and I'll fulfill your wishes."

Wang Hu perked up. What a surprise this was! He quickly kept his emotions under control and put on a somewhat doubtful expression as he asked, "I can ask for anything I want?"

"I'm a tiger of my word. How would I possibly lie to you?" blurted Di Baijun. However, when she looked at the shameless jerk the next moment, some not-so-good thoughts popped up in her mind, and the look in her eyes couldn't help but waver somewhat.

Di Baijun thought: Surely… not? At once, she wanted to add on a few more words—except that Wang Hu had already spoken by then. He said resolutely, "Alright, that settles it, then. I'll definitely show you how much of a genius I am, Baijun. I will also protect you and the children—our family forever."

Then, he turned and strode off with great conviction, leaving behind a somewhat alarmed, doubtful, and uncertain Di Baijun who had overlooked even the words 'our family' while her mind was preoccupied with the issue.

Judging from that shameless jerk's behavior, surely, he wasn't thinking of any nonsensical things, right?

Her gaze drifted about erratically for a few seconds before she let out a loud snort.

So what even if he had?

It was impossible for him to achieve something like that anyway. How could one possibly break through the Divine Body Realm that easily?

Besides…

Hints of danger dwelt in her eyes. Even if he did, should that shameless jerk dare to make any nonsensical requests, then she would… castrate him.

That's right, she would castrate him.

As she thought about it, suddenly, as though she had opened the door to a brand new world; mirth surfaced in Di Baijun's eyes. It seemed like she had thought of something funny.

At the other side, Wang Hu—who was giving off a sense of firm, unwavering determination all over—had already burst into uproarious laughter inwardly.

He didn't expect that a spontaneous move would bring him such great rewards!

What should I ask for when it happens?

He couldn't help but wonder in anticipation.

Hehe… Hehehe! Hahahaha!

It was only after he'd had a good, long laugh that he finally managed to barely contain his emotions.

He thought back to the scene just now—it seemed like Silly Girl had become excited just now!

She was in high morale, and fighting spirit had arisen in her.

It seemed like his stubborn resistance had sparked the fighting spirit in Silly Girl.

He knew a long time ago that he had to adopt a soft approach instead of resorting to force when dealing with Silly Girl because she was exactly someone that yielded only to friendly persuasion but not to coercion. That was how his way of the simp, where he would simp over her until there was nowhere she could vent her anger and yield to him sooner or later, had come about.

From the looks of things now though, it seemed like suddenly taking a forceful approach after simping over her for so long was more effective in triggering her emotions.

Different little plans formed in Wang Hu's mind, and he started to secretly laugh again.

I don't believe a silly thing like you can continue to resist for much longer.

Everything seemed to return to its original state again after they made the agreement.

Wang Hu made no mention of the agreement whatsoever while Di Baijun also remained absolutely confident. There was no sign of uncertainty in her anymore, and she had a haughty look in her eyes every time she looked at Wang Hu.

They worked hard and cultivated while they kept an eye on Hu County.

To be honest, with regard to this, as time passed bit by bit; Wang Hu was still rather confident that China could handle the matter well.

After all, Wang Hu knew very well that humans were existences blessed with cheats, and China was all the more the king of cheats.

The king of cheats' capabilities were something beyond the imagination of normal people.

True enough, Hu County remained peaceful and quiet even after a month passed. Nothing happened at all.

He naturally didn't know that China had already successfully set a trap for the Hui that previously approached the world passage and also concealed the world passage on the third day after the end of the spiritual energy nourishment, let alone the fact that they had already conducted an experiment on a Divine Body Realm-level Hui and killed it a few months ago.

However, this didn't mean that China, whom he thought of as the king of cheats, was free from worries. In fact, one of their greatest worries was even slightly related to him because it involved many animal species other than humans.

…

In the capital, Li Aimin's brows were tightly drawn together as he faced the person on the computer screen in front of him.

He asked gravely, "Are they still increasing at the same rate?"

"Yes, and the increment is growing with each passing day. Despite all the actions that we've taken, we were unable to stop the animals from coming," replied the other party on the screen seriously.

Li Aimin sighed softly. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Let's wait for a while more. The cabinet will make a decision as soon as possible."

"Yes, Elder Li."

The video call ended. After a moment's thought, Li Aimin nevertheless decided to dial Dong Pingtao's number.

With somewhat of a wry smile, he said, "I have no choice but to report something to you now."

"Go ahead, Elder Li," said Dong Pingtao steadily at the other end of the phone call.

"Alright. I'm sure you already know that large numbers of animals have been pouring from everywhere into our borders. I'm going to go into the concrete details of the situation now," said Li Aimin solemnly.

"Okay," replied Dong Pingtao whose voice was still as free of any fluctuations in emotions as ever.

Li Aimin said, "Ever since the emergence of Zhang Juzheng's tomb, innumerable animals have surged into our borders from the north, south, east, west, and even the oceans. Not only has this trend not died down in the least, but it's even becoming more and more serious.

"Innumerable animals have been fighting with one another and creating much bloodshed at the borders, including in the oceans and other water bodies. They are doing this to fight for territories and food. In fact, there have been cases where they've even attacked our citizens.

"During the last few days, just the number of dead animals mid-level First Realm and above that we've found on land borders alone already add up to over 100,000. Even 21 Second Realm animal kings have died because of the same thing. As for the situation in the oceans and other water bodies, we're still unsure at the moment.

"At the same time, while they were fighting, over the short span of a month and some; the number of new Second Realm animal kings that we've found on land borders has already numbered over 100, and this doesn't even include those that may exist in the oceans, other water bodies, and those further inland.

"We've also taken a lot of measures to stop the animals from coming into our borders, but because we cannot kill them, results have been lacking. We mustn't allow this to continue anymore. Otherwise, it'll eventually affect the people of China. The mess and chaos will also greatly impact our work."

Dong Pingtao stayed silent for a couple of seconds before he let out a soft sigh and said, "It's all for the sake of striving for a better environment after all."

"Exactly." Li Aimin nodded helplessly. "Even animals without human intelligence would instinctively choose to live in environments with better living conditions as well. That's exactly what these animals are doing. China's living conditions are the best right now so they are pouring into here one after another."

Actually, China had already made a decision with regard to the fighting among the animals a long time ago, and that was… to comply with the law of nature and leave them alone.

However, the current situation was that there were simply too many incoming animals, and there was no end to them.

There were so many that if they allowed this to continue, it would only lead to constant chaos, thereby affecting the people of China.

To be honest, Earth had grown significantly bigger over the last few years, and even the mountains had grown in height by over 100 meters on average, leading to a more spacious environment for the animals to live in at the borders. Had it not been for this, the animals currently surging into China would already have impacted some of China's citizens.