For a short while, the soil continued to tremble lightly again and again, as though there was a tiny plant trying hard to grow upward underneath.

Yet, no matter how hard it tried, it simply couldn't break through the soil's confinement.

Meow~!

A soft, gentle, peaceful, and barely audible mew seemed to ring out underground.

It carried some light frustration and grievance.

In spite of that, there was no irritation, anger, or anything like that which should have been there.

As though a clear spring in the mountains, it was gentle, peaceful, and free of any restlessness.

After another short while, the milky-white glow suddenly intensified greatly. A dull, muffled boom rang out, and the soil was blasted open.

A lithe and graceful figure leaped out of the hole. Amid the milky-white glow, the lithe figure transformed.

It started to grow taller and taller until a slender figure eventually appeared. She was shapely and curvaceous, and she had long, beautiful hair cascading down her shoulders.

The figure, who looked as though a fairy born out of Mother Nature, appeared in the empty area under the bridge that could be said to be abandoned.

A soft, exquisite, and unblemished face and a pair of clean, pure eyes looked around the surroundings with some curiosity as though sizing up the world.

Her eyes, even her entire self and every action of hers, were filled with that indescribable and unusually gentle, quiet, and peaceful aura.

It was as though she would never ever be angry or lose her temper.

Clean, clear, and sweet; she was like a small brook in green hills and clear waters that flowed with a crisp and clear tinkle.

A brief moment later, her graceful brows furrowed slightly as though something was puzzling her.

She lowered her head and glanced at her naked body that seemed like a creation of the universe. Then, she transformed back into an extremely adorable little kitten and walked out from under the bridge, disappearing into the moonlight.

…

Back in Tiger King's Cave, Wang Hu—who had returned home—started to lead the same peaceful and idyllic days as before.

As for the kitten from that night, she had already been tucked into the depths of his memory and would hardly be thought of again.

After all, to him, no matter what; that was but just a passing traveler in his life.

He had already come to know something since a very, very long time ago: that one would experience a great number of passing travelers in their life.

This was something destined to be.

On top of that, a lot of things wouldn't go according to one's wishes. It wasn't so much that he didn't care; rather, it was simply because if he cared too much, it would only serve to make himself feel even more awful in the end.

One must learn how to self-regulate, and time was the best form of medicine.

Of course, that little kitten didn't hold such high importance in his heart yet.

He just found it a pity, that was all.

It obviously had such great potential and had been so adorable.

Sigh!

Every time he thought about it, Wang Hu would find it a shame. However, that was all that it was.

Cultivating, helping Silly Girl with her recovery, checking the ongoing events in China and the human world, assessing the various animals under the Tiger King's Cave's command, occasionally playing with the two little fellows… all the remaining time after doing all that was given to Silly Girl.

This was Wang Hu's current life.

It was peaceful and real. In any case, he thought it felt pretty good.

His combat power was becoming stronger and stronger by the day, as were the forces under his command.

His relationship with Silly Girl was also soundlessly building up and deepening little by little.

He believed that, once it built up to a certain degree and when Silly Girl fully recovered, that would be the day when he would be able to thoroughly reap his harvest.

He looked forward very much to that day and was also very anxious for that day's arrival. However, he wasn't overly anxious about it.

He had the patience to wait for it.

In the morning, a few days after they returned to the Tiger King's Cave…

Wang Hu ended his cultivation. When he saw that Big Treasure and Little Treasure were still asleep in the neighboring room, he picked up the cell phone as per usual and started to check if anything significant had taken place in China or among the humans that day.

After browsing for a while, his gaze flickered and paused at a headline that read 'The Four Great Kings of the North, South, East, and West'.

He opened the page and started to read with fairly great interest.

'Hello, everyone. Your editor is here to meet everyone again. Today, I'd like to…'

He skipped the introduction that believed itself to sound friendly—but in truth, it only served to turn Wang Hu off—and went straight to the main article at the back.

'As everyone is aware, ever since the awakening of spiritual energy, our country has been practicing a policy of peaceful coexistence where everyone is friends with one another and with all the animal species.

'Later on, due to spiritual energy, animals started to invade us from every direction. Due to various reasons, our country came up with a solution—which is to team up with some powerful species and get them to migrate to the borders and prevent the animals from invading us.

'Today, let's talk about the most powerful species respectively in the north, south, east, and west among all the animal species that have migrated to the borders.

'The first one is undoubtedly China's good friends whom everyone loves very much, His Majesty, the Tiger King, and Her Majesty, the Tiger Queen.

'Excluding humans, the tigers under the Tiger King and the Tiger Queen's command are well-deserving of the title of number-one force on Earth.

'Alright, everyone knows that this is because of the Tiger King's and the Tiger Queen's presence.

'One must say that the Tiger King and the Tiger Queen—a couple that couldn't be any more made for each other—are practically the world's darlings and Earth's gift to us.

'They are the first and second entities among all the beings in the whole of our world to break through to the Third Realm and are respectively ranked first and second in individual strength.

'At this point, I'd like to say that this is something that can make anyone weep tears of envy.

'The blissful and romantic relationship between the Tiger King and the Tiger Queen, both of their peerless and powerful aptitudes, and a pair of superbly adorable little prince and princess—sigh, they're practically a celestial couple that you can't find even in stories and television dramas.

'There is no doubt that not only are the tigers under the Tiger King and the Tiger Queen's command the most powerful among all the animal species in the northern borders, but they're also the most powerful among all the animal species in all four directions of the borders. They are worthy of the title of king.

'Additionally, I'd like to say something very seriously here. Everyone already knows that the animals can transform into Dao forms—in other words, an appearance that more or less resembles a human—when they attain the Third Realm.

'I really, really wish I could see the Tiger King and the Tiger Queen's Dao forms, and I believe everyone out there would also like to see it.

'Let's hope that our country will show us great benevolence and post a photograph for us one day.'

A small smile couldn't help but form at the corners of Wang Hu's lips, and he read the text that appealed to him twice.

In the end, he concluded—the article was pretty well-written.

'Now that we've finished talking about the Tiger King and the Tiger Queen, let's talk about the animals at the southern borders.

'There is also a very powerful existence in the southern borders, and that's the Python King whom everyone is also very familiar with.

'The Python King lives in Lake Five Colors. He's the overlord of the lake, and in the southern borders, he is also…'

Wang Hu lost interest after taking a couple of looks. He still remembered that python.

It seemed like he was the second animal king whom China had spread news of.

Even though he was certainly extraordinary, Wang Hu didn't take his existence to heart yet. Wang Hu would think about it again once he broke through to the Third Realm.

Wang Hu continued to read the rest of the article.

The moment he did, the look in his eyes became somewhat strange.

'Now that we've finished talking about the north and the south, let's talk about the west. I believe everyone must be even more familiar with the king of the western borders.

'Additionally, I dare swear on my marriage that what I'm going to say is definitely real and free of any falsehoods.

'As for who this particular king of the western borders is, he is none other than Gungun whom we all know.

'That's right—the strongest and the king of the animals in the western borders is our national treasure, Gungun, the Giant Panda King.'

Wang Hu thought back to the figure that had made a fairly deep impression on him. Then, he looked at the article's content and the photograph there, only to find the situation strange.

Even someone like that ball of fat was actually able to become the strongest animal in the west?

How much must China have fed him?

'You mustn't doubt my words. Gungun is among the earliest batch of animals to break through to the Second Realm. Everyone knows this.

'Gungun may seem very lazy and as if he just wants to play; he may also seem like he loves to wheedle and as if he would never sit if he could lie down; and he may even seem as if he would never personally move and feed himself if he could get someone to feed him. However, let's take a look at that size of his that looks as though it is a hill. Although he looks very simple, naive, and adorable; how strong and muscular must he be?

'Also, don't forget that according to the incomplete ancient records passed down from the Era of Severance that our Giant Panda national treasure also has an extremely bad-ass name—the Iron-Eating Beast.

'The name alone is enough to tell us just how extraordinary our Giant Panda is. He could even eat metal! Therefore, they may look very adorable, but they are actually also very strong. They must definitely be extremely ferocious and powerful both in the past and in the present.

'The title of the strongest and the king of the western borders is definitely well-deserved.

'Lastly, the eastern borders. The eastern borders are where our seas are.

'Mysterious and unfathomable, nobody knows what kind of mysterious and powerful animals there are in there. They are also the only border region that hasn't teamed up with us, China, yet.

'However, since I've brought it up, then there must be a certain degree of factual basis here, of course.

'As everyone knows, the country's development focus during these recent few years has shifted from the coastal cities to the inland cities. Moreover, they have also banned fishing boats from going to the sea. The reservations they hold toward the seas are evident.

'Great tidal waves have been frequently forming at the surface of the seas, and huge expanses of blood have also been appearing as though the seawater has been dyed red because of large-scale battles breaking out.

'I don't know how many powerful animal species there are in our seas, but there's one particular species that's definitely a strong presence among them—the dolphins.

'That's right, dolphins, the humans' good friends.

'Evidently, due to the spiritual energy here, the dolphins have also come to our seas.

'One mustn't underestimate the dolphins. They have great intelligence, strength, and speed.

'Even sharks, one of the tyrants of the sea, wouldn't mess with them. One can see just how impressive they are from this.

'Due to our lack of knowledge on the seas, coupled with how dolphins are humans' good friends, I'd believe in the interim that the dolphins are the strongest and the kings of the eastern borders.

'Alright, we'll stop here for today. See you guys again next week.'

Wang Hu sank into contemplation after reading the article.

After removing the usual flattery toward him—the Tiger King—and that lump of flesh who was so fat that he was no different from a ball, quite a few things were still worth the deep contemplation in the article.

Firstly, a lot of new content that had never appeared in the news before was in the article. In that case, without permission from the higher-ups, was it possible that such content would appear?

What was China's senior officials' motive in allowing a news article like that to be published?

He was still deep in contemplation when Di Baijun looked over and took the cell phone from him and started to look through it.

Soon, she raised an eyebrow and let out a soft snort.

Half a minute later, she asked somewhat strangely, "Why is that Iron-Eating Beast so fat?"

Somewhat amused, Wang Hu looked over. Then, his gaze flickered, and he asked calmly, "Why do you call that Giant Panda an Iron-Eating Beast, Baijun?"

"He is an Iron-Eating Beast in the first place." Di Baijun, who didn't think much of it, said, "Legend has it that Iron-Eating Beasts are extremely ferocious and violent animals a very long time ago in the past. They are also very rare. Little did I expect that they seem to be becoming more and more useless now.

"He wasn't that fat in the last photograph I saw. He doesn't have an ounce of ferocity left anymore."

Wang Hu looked thoughtful at her words, though he didn't ask further about it.

As for Di Baijun, she was reading the rest of the article. After reading the whole article, she proceeded to the comments at the bottom without any hesitation.

The moment she did, her lips quietly turned up into a pout, seemingly happy but also annoyed.

'I only agree with some content written by the editor. We'll put aside the Tiger King and the Tiger Queen for now; they are too far away from us. The mention of them fills me with so much envy that it makes me want to cry. They are people that exist in fairytales.

'Let's just talk about how Gungun is so fat that he can barely walk now. How can he be the strongest in the western borders?'

'I agree with the poster above. Putting aside the Tiger King's and the Tiger Queen's one-of-a-kind combat powers on Earth, all I ask for is that kind of romantic love between the two of them.

'Peerless and unsurpassed in the world, they are made for each other. It's just as if you're living for my sake, so I'll stay by your side for life.

'It's too incredible. Oh god, please bestow upon me great, noble love that's as romantic as the relationship between the Tiger King and the Tiger Queen.'

'Putting aside the Tiger King and the Tiger Queen for now, I'd also like to ask: How exactly are they feeding Gungun? Although he looks very adorable, he's an Iron-Eating Beast, you know. He should be mighty and ferocious instead. Mighty and ferocious, you hear? Not cute and silly.'

'Does anyone have a photograph of the Tiger King and the Tiger Queen's Dao forms? That's what I wanna know. I really wanna know what they look like. I'm so envious.'

…

Di Baijun scrolled through the comments bit by bit, her gaze turning either happy or shy… or annoyed as she read. She didn't get tired of it at all.

An amused Wang Hu watched her. Who would have thought that the Tiger Queen—who looked high and mighty, and cold and haughty—would actually like reading comments? In fact, she would even transform into a keyboard warrior—except that she usually couldn't out-talk others and end up becoming so furious that she wanted to smash her cell phone onto the ground.

He was destined to be the only one who could witness this adorable side of hers.

"Don't post anything using my account, Baijun." As he thought about it, Wang Hu couldn't help but give her a reminder.

An embarrassed and annoyed Di Baijun glared at Wang Hu and said proudly, "Hmph. I would never bother arguing with these ignorant people."

Wang Hu kept quiet. That's because they didn't make you angry.

After giving her an amused smile, he continued to ponder about China's intentions. Shortly after, his attention shifted to the seas.

Could it be that they wanted to do something about the seas?

…

While Wang Hu was making guesses about China's motives, what he didn't know was that China had discussed something big during a cabinet meeting two days ago.

"Everyone, as all of you know, the seas are becoming more and more chaotic recently. More and more members of marine life are attacking our naval vessels. We can't let this continue anymore.

"And one more thing—after our preliminary investigations, we suspect that a world passage to an alternate world has appeared in the sea," said Chen Jianguo sternly, who was in charge of things relating to alternate worlds.

All the elderly men there were shocked. A world passage to an alternate world had appeared in the sea!

"Are you able to verify if it's true?"

"When did that happen?"

Two elderly men hastily asked.

The appearance of a world passage to an alternate world in the sea was undoubtedly something huge. Unlike on land, world passages to alternate worlds in the sea were much harder to guard. In fact, there was currently no way of guarding them. It was difficult to even find them.

They could only pin the vast majority of their hope on praying that the other party wasn't a very invasive world or that the other world hadn't discovered the world passage yet.

"The east coast navy recently caught two sea creatures that attacked them. These two sea creatures don't seem to be creatures native to Earth.

"Everyone can take a look at the photographs. Currently, the research center is still studying them. Their preliminary judgment is that they aren't Earth lifeforms."