Starting from his vigorous old age, he began to conquer Liaozhai.

"Roar~"

The tiger demon roared at Cao Xiong, its sound waves spreading out and spiritual energy forming a spiderweb-like shape, one circle encircling another.

The spirit circle collided with Cao Xiong's Evil-Sniffing Blade, and time seemed to freeze for a moment. Then, the spirit circle shattered, and the Evil-Sniffing Blade landed on the tiger demon's head.

As internal energy and spiritual energy collided, a strong wind rushed towards them, causing Cao Xiong's armor to clang loudly.

The tiger demon stumbled, feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

The demon-smelling longsword pierced the tiger's skin and slashed into its head.

Cao Man's attack followed closely, and Xuanhua's giant axe struck the tiger demon's neck.

"Roar~"

The tiger demon felt the vital energy flowing continuously into the Evil-Sniffing Blade, its eyes blazing with fury.

Cao Xiong drew his Evil-Sniffing Blade and sheathed it.

The empty dantian quickly reassembled its internal energy.

Cao Xiong quickly regained his strength, which is why he dared to unleash his full power in his sword-drawing technique right away.

Perhaps it was because of consuming the Water Vermilion Fruit, or perhaps it was because of the increasing number of entries I possessed that my body underwent a strange change.

Previously, it would take him a long time to recover after using his full strength to draw his sword once. Now, he can recover to his peak condition in a maximum of two minutes.

The tiger demon shuddered, and Cao Man staggered back several steps.

The tiger demon, now recovered, attacked even more ferociously, leaping and swallowing a soldier who was preparing to fire.

"Cao Man, stop him!"

Cao Xiong had just recovered some of his internal energy and could only rely on Cao Man to withstand it.

Without any hesitation, Cao Man raised his long axe and entangled the tiger demon.

Unfortunately, without Cao Xiong's help, Cao Man was struck by the tiger demon's tail before he could even get close to it.

He fell backward and crashed into the village wall, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Cao Man endured the pain, supported himself with one hand on the ground, stood up, and rushed forward again.

The other officers and soldiers, armed with muskets, kept their distance from the battlefield, constantly looking for opportunities to fire.

The tiger demon had thick skin and amazing defense, but it couldn't withstand the continuous fire of the musket.

One by one, dents appeared on his body from the musket fire.

The smells of gunpowder, blood, and burnt fur wafted all over the stockade walls.

Cao Man was repeatedly knocked down by the tiger demon, and his armor was already tattered beyond recognition.

The tiger demon's tail stretched out like a thick vine, constantly pulling the surrounding soldiers to its side and swallowing them whole.

"Step back!"

Once he recovered, Cao Xiong told Cao Man to step aside.

"Sword Drawing Technique~"

Cao Xiong unleashed his special skill once again.

The tiger demon already knew the power of Cao Xiong's move, so it stopped resisting, leaped into the air, and landed below the stockade wall.

The evil spirits below had already been killed by the government troops.

After the tiger demon landed, it attempted to rush into the soldiers and devour their flesh and blood to heal its injuries.

Unfortunately, Cao Xiong reacted quickly. At the same time that the tiger demon jumped down from the stockade wall, he changed his pace and used the "Leaf-Picking Step" to follow it down from the stockade wall.

The tiger demon's tail stretched out and lashed out at Cao Xiong.

"Tch~"

A section of the tiger demon's tail was cut off. The tiger demon bared its teeth and grimaced, then quickly retracted its tail, with blood dripping continuously from the wound.

Cao Xiong moved through the air, using the momentum of his fall to precisely land the Evil-Sniffing Blade on the tiger demon's head.

The tiger demon's skull was cleaved through twice in a row by the Evil-Sniffing Blade from the same spot.

"Roar~"

The excruciating pain caused the tiger demon to howl in agony, and its once robust and powerful body rapidly became emaciated.

Before long, the tiger demon's size shrank by more than half, and in its thinnest parts, the skin covered the bones.

The tiger demon knew that there was no way to resolve this peacefully today; only one of it and Cao Xiong could survive.

It channeled the last of its spiritual power, opened its claws, and pounced on Cao Xiong.

Cao Xiong bent his legs slightly and blocked the tiger demon's claws with a straight punch.

The defensive characteristics brought by the term "copper skin and iron bones" are once again demonstrated.

The tiger demon's claw had the power to shatter a stone wall, yet Cao Xiong still caught it steadily.

"Lightning fast!"

The evil-smelling longsword slashed across the tiger demon's forelimb.

"Roar~"

With its paw chopped off, the tiger demon was completely powerless to resist, and its eyes revealed a human-like despair.

Cao Xiong drew his knife again, stabbing the tiger demon in the throat.

[Defeat a tiger demon in the early Qi Refining stage, fragment +1]

The joy of killing the tiger demon was not intense. The tiger demon's goal tonight was very clear: it was coming for the soldiers of Qingping Village.

"The tree spirit has intervened."

The idea came out of Cao Xiong's mind like a bolt from the blue.

By the time the wounded soldiers and post-war matters were dealt with, the night had faded and the sky was beginning to lighten.

……

……

……

For the next two days, Qingping Village returned to peace. After the tiger demon was killed, no other monsters appeared.

Meanwhile, Cao Xiong and his troops from Guobei County did not stop their efforts to suppress the bandits. All the small mountain strongholds within dozens of miles of Qingping Village had been wiped out by the troops.

Apart from Eagle's Nest Peak, no other bandits have been found to have disappeared.

The temporary headquarters of Qingpingzhai.

After delivering the spoils of war to the centurion's office, Yu Tong hurriedly led his men back to Qingping Village.

"Commander, when I returned to Guobei County this time, Master Lu asked me to bring you the fifteen newly made muskets. I must hand them over to you personally."

"Oh?"

Cao Xiong was pleasantly surprised. The power of the improved musket was self-evident; even a powerful Qi Refining Realm demon beast like the Tiger Demon could not completely withstand it.

If fifteen more muskets had been brought in on the night of the battle with the tiger demon, I dare not say that the tiger demon would have been killed, but at least half of the soldiers would have been spared.

After two bandit suppression campaigns, seven of the thirty muskets in the Hundred Households' Garrison were lost. Now, fifteen more have been added, bringing the total to thirty-eight muskets.

"You hand over the work to Wang Er and let him distribute it."

"Yes, sir!"

After Yu Tong left, Cao Xiong continued to look at the map. Next, he needed to deal with the remaining mountain strongholds.

"Bang bang~"

Just then, soldiers knocked on the door again.

"Enter."

The soldiers outside the gate had beads of sweat on their faces from running hard.

"Report to the commander-in-chief that a man has arrived outside the stronghold, claiming to be the commander of Qingfeng Stronghold, and has come to pay his respects with orders from their chief."

Cao Xiong was somewhat puzzled. Mountain bandits came to see him? Interesting.

"Bring him to meet us."

Cao Xiong's finger landed on a spot marked Qingfeng Village on the map.

Qingfeng Village was also a relatively large bandit force.

Not long after, Qin Dan, with a nervous heart, followed the soldiers to Cao Xiong's room.

"My lord, I am Qin Dan, the commander of Qingfeng Village."

Cao Xiong waved to signal the soldiers who had led the way to leave the room before looking at Qin Dan.

He was around thirty-five years old, with a deep and solid aura.

"What brings you to see me?"

Seeing Cao Xiong's gentle tone, Qin Dan felt slightly more relaxed. He found it very difficult to chat calmly with the soldiers.

He took a letter from his pocket and placed it in front of Cao Xiong.

"This is a letter written by our chief, Liu Mingzi, to you, sir. You'll understand once you see it."

Cao Xiong looked at the envelope, which had five characters written on it: "To be opened by Lord Cao."

The handwriting is vigorous, powerful, neat, and beautiful.