"Ling Shuang is no dummy." Di Baijun refuted him fairly stubbornly.

Wang Hu was secretly amused. In other words, she was saying that the cowardly fox was a dummy.

At once, he followed suit. "Yes, yes. Ling Shuang isn't a dummy. Su Ling's a dummy, a big dummy. She has really let down all the teaching that my baby gave her."

"Hmph. That fox is really—"

As though she had been reminded of something, frustration couldn't help but surge up within Di Baijun. However, in the midst of her words, she swallowed her words back down, and her gaze flickered a little.

No, no matter what, I'm the one teaching them. I'm the one who will be disgraced no matter how much I complain anyway.

The reason why she could change her expertise to a special ability like bewitchment is also that I'm modifying my way of teaching to suit what she's good at.

I mustn't say too much to that rascal.

"Although she's a little stupid, she's still improved a fair bit because I modified my way of teaching to suit what she's good at.

"Wouldn't you know that? You've been peeping at us for so long, right?" Di Baijun's eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked at Wang Hu again.

Calm and unperturbed, Wang Hu returned her gaze with a clear conscience. As though he had nothing to hide, he said, "Let's not use the word 'peep' anymore. How can you use the word 'peep' when I'm just looking at my wife?

"Besides, I only watched you guys a few times, and my attention was even fully on you, Baijun. How would I know how that cowardly fox is doing?

"No wonder you said that I was asking the obvious, Baijun. You've misunderstood. I really had no idea."

Di Baijun's eyes were full of suspicion as she glared at him a little. "I don't believe you."

"Heaven and earth can testify to the truth of my words, and the sun and the moon are my witnesses. How would I possibly lie to my baby?" Wang Hu hugged her even more tightly. At the same time, he also leaned toward her neck and gave her a kiss.

Di Baijun immediately started to struggle, and her resolve almost broke down. Miffed, she said, "Stop fooling around. This isn't over yet."

"I'm not fooling around. I just feel like kissing my baby, that's all," said Wang Hu in a muffled voice as he refused to shift his head away.

"You're not allowed to call me 'baby'. That's so mushy." Di Baijun's voice, whose level of intimidation within had fallen greatly, rang out.

Wang Hu disregarded everything and went a step further. He pushed his luck, went with the momentum, and pushed her down.

A series of unmentionable romping around ensued. Under Di Baijun's intense objection, Wang Hu held her in his arms and lay on the bed.

Tenderness filled his heart as he took in her unique fragrance. He asked sincerely and lovingly, "Do you love me, Baijun?"

"No, I don't." A slightly red-faced Di Baijun replied without any hesitation.

"You're lying. All you do is lying to me." Wang Hu wasn't affected. Instead, he tightened his embrace around her more and more.

Di Baijun scoffed lightly to express her disdain and pride.

"No matter what, I'll always love you," Wang Hu whispered.

Di Baijun's closed eyes curved. On the surface, however, she bumped him disdainfully with her shoulders and uttered, "That's so mushy."

"Yes, I'll be mushy to you for life." Wang Hu spoke sweet-nothings to her as if it came naturally to him.

"I'm going to ignore you." Before she knew it, Di Baijun started to sound as if she was being coquettish.

"It's fine as long as I pay you attention." Wang Hu gave her flawless cheek a kiss.

"Geez, get away from me." A disdainful Di Baijun pushed him and said stubbornly, "I'm not finished with you about the peeping incident yet."

"Alright, alright. It's not over yet. So, tell me, what would you like to do about it?" Wang Hu didn't mind her reaction at all. Instead, he spoke in a cajoling manner.

Di Baijun found herself at a loss for words all at once. What should she do?

How should she punish that rascal?

Thoughts flashed through her mind, yet she couldn't think of anything good.

At the sight of Silly Girl thinking hard, Wang Hu took the initiative to suggest with a smile, "How about this? You can punish me by making me give you three massage sessions?"

Di Baijun was rather tempted the moment she heard his suggestion. Without much hesitation, she opened her eyes and replied seriously, "No, you have to do it five times."

"Okay, five times it is." Wang Hu agreed to it right away.

Di Baijun pouted. She suddenly felt like the punishment was too lenient.

However, it wasn't quite appropriate for her to go back on her word either.

"Here, this is the first session. I'll definitely let you be the one to request to stop." Wang Hu got up enthusiastically and started the first massage session.

Di Baijun lay down comfortably.

However, a short while later, her face became red and rosy…

The sweet daily life between a husband and his wife went by. On the third day, there was good news.

Another peak-level Second Realm animal under the Tiger King's Cave's command was going to break through.

Although it wasn't Wang Liang or Wang Shan, Wang Hu was still pretty happy about it.

As though the rest had been thoroughly spurred, more than ten other animals also reached the verge of breakthrough in the following couple of months.

Both Wang Liang and Wang Shan were within their ranks, which made Wang Hu even happier.

These ten-odd animals' breakthroughs meant that those under the Tiger King's Cave's direct command had finally fully stepped onto the Third Realm stage.

From now on, these animals under the Tiger King's Cave's direct command would no longer be mainly in the Second Realm but in the Third Realm.

At the same time, the spiritual energy density level in China had also quietly reached the eleventh stage of the Third Realm—in other words, the peak of the Third Realm.

The subsequent increase would be the transition from the peak-level Third Realm to the Fourth Realm.

This increase didn't cause much of an impact within the China Alliance because the threat brought about by the tenth stage and the eleventh stage was more or less similar.

After all, how many creatures possessed individual strength that could reach the tenth stage or even the eleventh stage of the Third Realm?

To do that, one needed to go through eight or even nine rounds of metamorphosis during their breakthrough to the Third Realm.

There were simply too few existences that could achieve something like that.

Therefore, as long as the spiritual energy density level increase within the China Alliance didn't reach the Fourth Realm, it would still bring more benefits than demerits.

The spiritual energy density level increase outside the China Alliance wasn't anything positive, though.

The spiritual energy density level outside the China Alliance had also quietly reached the sixth stage of the Third Realm.

The threats brought about by the alternate worlds became even worse.

Wars continued to fill almost the whole Earth, and they even became fiercer and fiercer as time went by.

Apart from the China Alliance, all the other alliances suffered losses that became bigger and bigger on each passing day.

The attacks from the alternate worlds in their countries left them frazzled and overwrought. From time to time, large numbers of people would die as a result of the attacks.

There was nothing they could do about it. Their Third Realm experts were far from adequate, be it in terms of quantity or quality.

Firearms were still their main means of resistance against the alternate worlds, even within their own countries.

Some weapons among these firearms—for example, nuclear weapons—naturally brought harm to the common people as well.

Apart from the human alliances, more and more wars also broke out in other areas on Earth.

Like what the humans had predicted, the wars between the many alternate worlds were even fiercer than theirs.

They didn't care about Earth's original masters either. The profits dangling before their eyes were the most real and the most alluring instead.

While the human alliances dealt with the enemies before them, they also closely followed the wars between the alternate worlds.

This was in case overly-strong alternate worlds would appear and upset the balance in the current situation.

Thanks to the human alliances' efforts, Earth was currently maintaining a fairly fragile power balance.

In a flash, the thirteenth year since the awakening of spiritual energy ended.

In the Tiger King's Cave…

The fourteenth New Year's Day, as per China's customs since the awakening of spiritual energy, passed. The first big meeting of the year, which held fairly great meaning, was held.

The twenty-odd strong Third Realm cultivators belonging to the Tiger King's Cave—including Hei Fan, the five Patriarchs, and all the twenty-odd animals under the Tiger King's Cave's direct command that had broken through to the Third Realm—were present.

All of them had transformed into their Dao forms and assembled in the Tiger King's Cave.

"Greetings to the King and the Queen!"

All of them bowed and paid their respects after Wang Hu and Di Baijun appeared.

Wang Hu sat on the throne together with Di Baijun. He raised his right hand slightly. In a calm and indifferent voice that was incomparably dignified, he said, "You may rise."

"Thank you, my lord."

All of them straightened their backs after answering.

Wang Hu went straight to the point and said, "Those with anything to report may now speak."

The forty-odd people at the bottom stayed quiet; this was the standard way in which every large meeting started.

Of course, apart from special situations, nobody would say anything at this point even if they had something to report anyway.

Moreover, even if they really did have something important to report, they would request a private audience with the Tiger King rather than bringing it up at this point.

After waiting for a few seconds, at the sight of how no one was saying anything, Wang Hu wasn't surprised either. He glanced at Jun Wen.

Jun Wen, who got the hint, said, "My lord, the Queen, please allow me to report on the Tiger King's Cave's development in various aspects over the past year."

Wang Hu raised his hand and gestured for him to go on.

Jun Wen started to talk about the number of Second Realm and Third Realm cultivators currently under the Tiger King's Cave's command, the rate at which they increased, various benefits that they had gained, and so on.

He gave them the equivalent of a year-end debrief. By telling the other animals about this and letting them understand more about the situation, one could consider this a way of uniting the people.

"My lord, the Queen, as of the last day of last year, the number of Third Realm cultivators under the Tiger King's Cave's command has reached a total of 262. The number of Second Realm cultivators…

"In terms of the number of Spirit Stones we've gained…"

He talked about various things, including the relevant statistics involved. There were few among those present that didn't care. Every one of them listened to him carefully nonetheless.

As for what they thought of it, only they themselves would know.

When Jun Wen finished his report, he bowed silently to indicate that he was done.

Wang Hu's dignified and serene gaze swept across them. Then, he said calmly, "During the past year, the Tiger King's Cave has become quite a fair bit stronger. All of you have done well. However, do not let down your guard. The Third Realm is but just the beginning."

"As per the King's teachings." All the animals bowed and chorused.

Wang Hu then looked at Wang Liang who got the hint. Wang Liang bowed and said, "My lord, the Queen, please allow me to report on the current situation in the world."

Wang Hu nodded. Wang Liang—who looked to be in his thirties or forties in his Dao form and had a serious, squarish face—said in a serious tone, "My lord, the Queen, at present, a total of 328 alternate worlds of varying sizes have appeared on the whole of Earth.

"These are just the ones that are known to us. It is yet unknown how many there are out there that we do not know of.

"Among which, the ones that present the greatest threats are…

"Among the eight human alliances, the China Alliance is doing the best. In terms of their combat power…"

Contrary to how Jun Wen had talked only about internal affairs, Wang Liang spoke only about external affairs.

How the eight human alliances and other species on Earth were doing, as well as what the many alternate worlds were doing.

The moment he spoke, it went on for over twenty minutes. His report was extremely informative.

Not daring to be careless, all the animals paid close attention to what he said. It was as though they were listening to him even more seriously than when they were listening to the report about internal affairs just now.

The most crucial parts out of all the information that Wang Liang mentioned were nearly all obtained from Ji.

Out of everyone under Wang Hu's command that held important positions, Ji was the only one that didn't have anyone present.

This was because the situation was different for them. Although all the human alliances had ignored Ji's existence, Ji was ultimately still a human country.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Wang Hu didn't summon them.

"My lord, the Queen, while it seems like the general situation on Earth has reached a balance, this balance is extremely fragile. It may break as soon as tomorrow…

"And swiftly spread throughout Earth, even to the Tiger King's Cave."

When Wang Liang finished, the countenances of most people present had become a few notches graver.

Evidently, they agreed with Wang Liang and also understood the dangers involved.

"I'm sure everyone is now aware of the current situation, so I don't wish to say anything more about it. As long as you're in the Tiger King's Cave, you'll naturally be safe." Wang Hu's deep gaze slowly swept across all of them as he spoke calmly.

Wang Liang, Jun Wen, and those under the Tiger King's Cave's direct command didn't think much about what he said. As for Hei Fan, Ming Feng, and the other non-direct personnel; they lowered their heads further. They didn't dare to meet his eyes directly.

The clever ones among them naturally understood that those words were directed at them.

"Alright, all of you may leave if there's nothing else."

Wang Hu waved.

"Yes. We'll take our leave."

All the animals chorused and left the hall after bowing.

At once, the solemn atmosphere in the hall faded a fair bit.

The stern and imposing aura that Wang Hu and Di Baijun gave off also weakened a great deal.

"The Tiger King's Cave is still rather weak." Wang Hu sighed softly and spoke to Di Baijun while thinking about China's combat power.

In comparison, excluding the two of them, the Tiger King's Cave was really very weak.

"Combat power isn't something you can rush." Di Baijun also thought the same way, but she nevertheless offered him a few words of consolation.

Wang Hu shook his head and said somewhat resignedly, "By right, the talent of the Third Realm animals under our direct command may not necessarily be inferior to some of China's Third Realm cultivators. Neither are we inferior in terms of resources either. However, our cultivation speed is indeed slower than theirs."

He was rather speechless at the mention of that. In comparison, it was indeed as though humans had cheats.

Even if they were equally talented and had the same amount of resources, it seemed like the humans' cultivation speed was still faster than that of the animals under the Tiger King's Cave's command.

Di Baijun mused for a moment. Then, she said thoughtfully, "Humans innately correspond to the Dao form, so they certainly hold some advantage over others. Relatively speaking, the human alliances' cultivation speed seems to be somewhat faster.

"Could it be that Ling Shuang and the others have experienced too little?"

"Experienced too little?" Wang Hu raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Yes. The cultivators from the various human alliances don't seem to lack training or battles the moment they reach the Second Realm.

"It seems like Ling Shuang and the others haven't experienced such things at all after they reached the Second Realm.

"Although you've set up trials for them, those ultimately still aren't training done in life-threatening situations. Their cultivation has gone a little too smoothly," Di Baijun said seriously. The more she spoke, the more certain she sounded.

Wang Hu mused over her words. At the same time, he also started to take the matter very seriously.

It seemed like… that was indeed the case.

Because the human alliances—including the Chinese cultivators—had to fight against alternate world invasions, nearly all of their current Third Realm cultivators had grown and developed amongst bloodshed…

Whereas Ling Shuang, Old Second, Old Third, and the others hadn't.

None of them had experienced any real bloodshed after they reached the Second Realm.

To borrow Silly Girl's words, their cultivation had indeed gone too smoothly.

Even though he had set up trials for them and had also placed great importance on their combat ability…

They hadn't done any training in life-threatening situations.

Could the problem have stemmed from that?

His brows furrowed as he thought about it. Amid his silence, he started to lean more and more toward the possibility.

Old Second and the others' cultivation had indeed gone too smoothly after they reached the Second Realm.

It had gone much more smoothly than even his. Moreover, he had even experienced several big battles, including life-threatening ones.

On the other hand, Old Second and the others hadn't had anything like that. They were more like a bunch of little eagles that had been living under his protection.