Other than one person, everyone else raised their hands.

Dong Pingtao nodded. In his usual calm and steady manner, he said, “The votes have gone through. Old Li, make a trip there personally after you get into contact with the Tiger King.

“Show him the highest form of hospitality. We must strive to become friends with the Tiger King.

“The employable cultivation resources are set as ten times the supply of what a top-cla.s.s cultivator of our country gets in a year.”

Li Aimin frowned lightly and asked with some heartache, “Isn't that a little too much?”

“You have to spend money to make money. We may find it a lot, but the Tiger King may not necessarily think so.

“Besides, it's just for this one time. What's there to be reluctant about in parting with those?” Dong Pingtao replied magnanimously.

The other few elderly men nodded in agreement.

They definitely wouldn't bear to part with the resources if they had to do this every year, of course. After all, the recipient ultimately wasn't one of their own. However, since it was just for the sake of building good relations this one time, all of them were willing to part with the resources.

Li Aimin also nodded.

“We can also officially give the other countries an answer now. Just tell them the truth. Additionally, we'll also make our stance on this clear… to prevent the formation of any undesirable thoughts,” said Dong Pingtao resolutely as he looked at the elderly man in charge of foreign relations.

“Alright, I understand,” the elderly man replied with a nod right away.

In the secluded valley, w.a.n.g Hu, the other tigers, and the fox went about their own business after their meal.

Now that they had the cell phone, Big Treasure and Little Treasure had quieted down a lot more. w.a.n.g Hu switched on the cartoons for them.

Old Third and Su Ling began to cultivate. So did w.a.n.g Hu.

However, all of them cultivated in areas far away from the cave where Silly Girl had gone into for seclusion, even going as far as almost ten kilometers away. This was to avoid competing with Silly Girl for spiritual energy.

w.a.n.g Hu went to a not-so-tall mountain peak where he could see Big Treasure, Little Treasure, and the cave at all times.

There, he stayed in his Dao form and started to practice the Eight Tigers Spiritual Energy-Devouring Body-Nurturing Art.

At his current stage, every bit of advancement was now much harder to achieve than when he had been in the Transformation Realm.

For tigers, they would reach a shoulder height of 100 meters upon nurturing their bodies to the perfected level.

At present, his shoulder height was only ten meters tall. One could easily imagine just how huge the gap he had to close was.

Putting everything else aside for now, the gap in physical strength was the greatest. As though the difference between a tiny brook and the great ocean, they were practically in two different leagues.

Although w.a.n.g Hu's current abilities were enough to allow him to walk unhindered in the world, the world was also concurrently becoming stronger and stronger. Every species out there was gaining strength, as were their potential enemies.

What reason did he have to stop striving to become stronger, then?

In fact, after his temporary excitement and his soaring sense of heroism from feeling the vast, boundless strength that the Divine Body Realm had given him had pa.s.sed; he had instinctively and discontentedly felt the desire to become even stronger… and to reach a point where he would truly be invincible.

He circulated the technique throughout his body, aggressively absorbing spiritual energy to strengthen his body and nourish his soul. Flipping the process over would then allow him to store and manipulate even more divine power.

Given w.a.n.g Hu's current apt.i.tude, even though he was only just starting to practice the Eight Tigers Spiritual Energy-Devouring Body-Nurturing Art and was still far from being able to fully exhibit its might; he was, nevertheless, becoming stronger with every breath he took. If other cultivators were to experience the speed of his strength's growth, they would surely be utterly green with envy.

However, when compared to the enormous vessel that was the Divine Body Realm, this bit of energy was still far from adequate. The acc.u.mulation had to be done over days and months even.

Time pa.s.sed very quickly when one was cultivating.

Suddenly, the sound of a phone ringing from kilometers away snapped w.a.n.g Hu back to reality with a start.

Like a flash of lightning, he crossed the distance between them in just a dozen seconds or so and picked up the call.

“Your Excellency.” Li Aimin's amicable and mirthful voice rang out.

w.a.n.g Hu's eyes narrowed slightly. He felt incredibly confident in this instant.

He placated the two little fellows as he replied without an ounce of pa.s.sion in his voice, “Cabinet Elder Li.”

“Yes, it's me.” Li Aimin nodded. He, who was familiar with the Tiger King's personality, went straight to the point and said, “Your Excellency, I took the liberty of making this call in order to inquire something of Your Excellency.”

w.a.n.g Hu, who had formed an idea of his intentions right away, had a clam and aloof tone. “Tell me.”

In a serious and composed tone, Li Aimin asked, “May I know if Your Excellency has broken through to the Third Realm?”

“Yes. What about it?” replied a placid w.a.n.g Hu without any signs of unusual emotion.

Li Aimin inhaled lightly and exclaimed in astonishment, “Our satellites captured an image yesterday so we had been speculating whether Your Excellency the Tiger King has broken through to the Third Realm or not. Thus, I decided to call.

“Your Excellency is simply too amazingly talented. As expected of the number-one expert on Earth. Your Excellency's actions are tantamount to opening up a path for all cultivators. On behalf of China and even humanity itself, let me express my grat.i.tude to Your Excellency.”

For a moment, w.a.n.g Hu wanted to laugh when he heard these sincerity-filled words.

The laughter stemmed from a sense of satisfaction. His strength had reached a point where even China's higher management officials had to flatter him and say nice things to him.

To w.a.n.g Hu who had been human during his past life, how could he possibly not feel a sense of satisfaction and smug content?

At the same time, however, a sense of wariness also arose in him. High-ranking human officials' words weren't to be so easily trusted.

In the same cold, haughty, and placid tone; he replied, “It's nothing much. I felt it incoming so I went ahead and broke through. The Third Realm isn't difficult. This is nothing more than just a beginning.”

On the other end of the phone, the smile on Li Aimin's face froze for a moment. Was it really not difficult?

The enormous China owned two great legacies. Even after studying them for several years, they still hadn't gained much confidence in breaking through to the Third Realm.

He blinked a couple of times and smiled somewhat wryly. Talented people really were able to do as they pleased, including blatantly and openly mocking others.

He suppressed his acerbic envy and laughed. “Hahaha, of course, it wouldn't be difficult for Your Excellency. To other people and cultivators of other species, however, it's as difficult as ascending to heaven. After all, there's only one Tiger King in the whole world!”

The corners of w.a.n.g Hu's lips curled up. An inexplicable and wonderful feeling surged up in him, though he immediately suppressed it with great determination.

This old fogey is totally up to no good. He's found another opportunity to flatter me.

Why didn't I realize, in the past, that this old man is so good with words?

He calmed his emotions, and then he asked in the same tone as ever, “Is there anything else, Cabinet Elder Li?”

Li Aimin raised his eyebrows lightly. What impressive determination the Tiger King had. To think he wasn't showing any unusual reaction even when presented with such words of flattery.

However, he wasn't discouraged. If it didn't work this time, then he would try again the next time. He didn't believe that there was any intelligent lifeform that disliked hearing nice things.

Wasn't there a saying among the youngsters? Simping to the very end would give one everything they wanted.

The word 'simp' wasn't quite appropriate for his status though so he would skip it.

Even so, the underlying meaning remained the same. Even if the Tiger King was an iron pillar, Li Aimin would still be able to flatter him until he eventually softened. Even if the softening was only minimal, it would still be helpful.

Li Aimin didn't feel any psychological burden toward this either. After all, the other party was the number-one expert on Earth. The influence he held and the high position he occupied were enough to make Li Aimin forsake his sense of shame.

There wasn't much use in having a sense of shame anyway—if it meant making China stronger.

If his actions could prompt the Tiger King into developing a sense of fondness toward China and get him to lend China a hand in times of need, then Li Aimin would even be willing to put him on a pedestal and treat him as if he was the man's ancestor, let alone just flattering him.

Of course, it seemed like the Tiger King had become impatient so he should hurry and get to the point instead.

His voice turned serious, and he said, “Your Excellency, apart from asking about the breakthrough, there are also two other reasons why I'm making this call.

“Firstly, we would like to pay the Tiger King a visit to offer our congratulations on your breakthrough, as well as to celebrate the birth of the first Third Realm expert on Earth. Secondly, it's because there are some important matters that we'd like to inform you.”

w.a.n.g Hu sobered up a little. Important matters to inform him?

“There's no need to come over to offer your congratulations. You can just tell me over the phone if there's anything important.”

Li Aimin shook his head and said seriously, “Your Excellency, paying a visit to offer our congratulations is a gesture of China's kindly feelings. Over the years, we have also developed some things which are beneficial to cultivators. It's just as well that we can take this opportunity to let Your Excellency have a look at them.

“Additionally, the matters that we'd like to inform you of are of utmost importance. We'd best talk about it in person instead.”

w.a.n.g Hu frowned slightly. What kind of important matters could it be that they couldn't just tell him over the phone?

Also, things beneficial to cultivators…

After a few seconds of contemplation, he agreed to the request. “Alright, when are you coming over?”

“How about the day after tomorrow at 9 a.m.?” A composed Li Aimin suggested.

“Sure.”

After w.a.n.g Hu hung up, he let the two little fellows continue with their cartoons before he returned to the mountain peak while thinking about what had happened.

A brief moment later, he gave up on thinking about it. It was useless to think so much at the moment.

All he needed to know was only one thing—China likely intended to continue building good relations with him. This alone was enough.

As for other issues, given his current abilities, he would just take it as they came.

Two days pa.s.sed very quickly. In the cave where Silly Girl had gone into seclusion, the nurturing aura there had already become fairly strong. w.a.n.g Hu's guess was that Silly Girl had already finished her third round of metamorphosis and was currently undergoing the fourth.

This morning, a helicopter flew over from afar before it even turned 9 o'clock.

w.a.n.g Hu could already sense it while it was still a great distance away. With a thought, he transformed back into the tiger form and took the initiative to go over.

In the blink of an eye, both parties were already flying side by side in midair.

Li Aimin and the others watched the flying w.a.n.g Hu with astonishment in their eyes.

They had already known beforehand that Third Realm cultivators were capable of flight, but when they truly saw it for themselves, they couldn't help but still be astonished.

Li Aimin suppressed his emotions as he stood at the helicopter's opened entrance hatch and took the initiative to give w.a.n.g Hu a friendly smile. Then, he said, “Sorry to intrude on you, Your Excellency.”

Roar~!

“Tell me, what kind of important matters is it?”

w.a.n.g Hu didn't speak in Mandarin anymore. His tone was straightforward, his demeanor as cold and haughty as ever.

Li Aimin had already become accustomed to it. He asked loudly, “Your Excellency, are you aware of what's going on in the world at the moment?”

Something occurred to w.a.n.g Hu, and some speculations formed in his mind. In spite of that, however, he couldn't really think of much right off the bat, and he gave him a dispa.s.sionate reply.

Roar~!

“Tell me.”

“At present, various countries around the world have already discovered as many as 381 alternate world pa.s.sages. Among them are both friendly and unfriendly alternate worlds.

“The friendly ones are fine, but the unfriendly ones want nothing but to invade Earth and occupy our homes by force. With regard to this, I believe that every species on Earth stands on the same side. We absolutely mustn't agree to it.

“What do you think, Your Excellency?” asked a serious Li Aimin.

w.a.n.g Hu remained non-committal and cautiously refrained from answering. His demeanor was as though silently telling Li Aimin to continue.

Li Aimin didn't press for a reply. He went on and said, “Your Excellency, I've come precisely to talk to you about those unfriendly alternate worlds. A lot of them are worlds that we humans, and even Earth itself, are unable to match up to at present. They are extremely strong and powerful.

“In the past, we humans possessed the greatest strength on Earth and occupied the most resources. Thus, at the same time, while we protect ourselves; we were also under the obligation to protect Earth. As a result, we didn't talk to Your Excellency or any other animal species about these things.

“But now that Your Excellency has broken through to the Third Realm and has become the strongest individual on Earth, you now hold great influence in the world. Your will can move the world itself.

“We cannot keep this a secret from Your Excellency anymore. Thus, we have specially come to inform you of it.”