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

[Rough draft, not yet revised, you can check it tomorrow]

When Cao Xiong arrived at the stable, he saw Meng Jia feeding the warhorses.

"Greetings, Commander." Meng Jia quickly put down the dry grass in his hand after seeing Cao Xiong.

"No need for formalities." Cao Xiong looked at Meng Jia. Since recruiting this man into the centurion's office, he hadn't paid much attention to him.

Meng Jia's aura is now even more powerful than that of a mid-stage Skin Tempering Realm martial artist.

However, Cao Xiong did not sense any spiritual power or internal energy from Meng Jia.

"It seems Meng Jia is no ordinary person. He must have some kind of special opportunity. It's a waste of his talents to make him a groom," Cao Xiong thought to himself.

"Sizzle~"

Just as Cao Xiong was observing Meng Jia, two blue pythons crawled from a distance to Meng Jia's side and kept rubbing against Meng Jia's clothes.

Meng Jia tapped the heads of the two green snakes, signaling them to stop.

"These are the two big snakes you raised?" Cao Xiong asked in surprise.

These two green snakes exuded an imposing aura and were enormous in size, having both entered the Spirit Awakening Realm.

"Yes, Commander, Daqing and Erqing have been with me for many years." Meng Jia felt a little uneasy, even though Cao Xiong had promised him that he could continue to raise the two green snakes.

However, humans and demons are irreconcilable, and Meng Jia was not entirely confident.

"Indeed, both of these green snakes have begun their cultivation journey."

Cao Xiong paused for a moment, then continued, "Do you want to make them stronger?"

Cao Xiong's words stirred up a storm in Meng Jia's heart.

Meng Jia could feel that his body had become stronger since Da Qing and Er Qing mutated.

Although Meng Jia was unaware of the underlying connection, he knew that if Da Qing and Er Qing continued to grow stronger, he would also become stronger.

"Please enlighten me, sir."

Cao Xiong looked at the two green snakes and pondered for a long time. "I won't investigate your relationship with the two green snakes, but from today onwards, you won't need to raise horses anymore."

"These two green snakes have already transformed into demons. For demons, fighting and feeding are the ways for them to become stronger."

"If you want them to become stronger, you have to let them unleash their wildness and keep killing."

Meng Jia was startled. "I will leave it to the centurion to arrange."

"Good!" Cao Xiong patted Meng Jia on the shoulder.

Today, every household has doctors, blacksmiths, clerks, and all sorts of talented people.

In the future, more people with special talents will join the Hundred Household Office.

Cao Xiong had an idea: to bring these people together and form a special organization.

Meng Jia was able to raise and control beasts, so he could also be considered a special talent.

"Meng Jia, I can sense that your body is different from before. Do you have any special abilities?" Cao Xiong's divine sense enveloped Meng Jia.

Meng Jia hesitated for a moment, but finally chose to tell Cao Xiong, "I don't know either, but it seems that I have established some kind of connection with Da Qing and Er Qing. When they become stronger, I can feel my body changing as well."

"For example, increased strength or increased speed."

Cao Xiong's heart stirred. "From today onwards, you will participate in barracks meetings, just like the army medics."

"Yes, sir!" Meng Jia breathed a sigh of relief. Cao Xiong did not delve into his secret; he had indeed not trusted the wrong person.

Next, Cao Xiong walked to the side of the warhorse and untied the reins.

"Whoosh~"

As Cao Xiong manipulated the beast-taming bag, the warhorse vanished from its spot in an instant.

"Just as I thought." Cao Xiong was secretly pleased.

Cao Xiong focused his mind on the Beast Taming Bag. His warhorse was a little restless after suddenly arriving in an unfamiliar place, but it quickly adapted to the environment inside the bag.

He manipulated his divine sense and released the warhorse again.

After leaving the stables, Cao Xiong did not return to the barracks, but went to the forge.

The forging of short muskets is on track, and now about six or seven short muskets are being made every day.

Today, however, Lu Qing was not at the Hundred Household Office, and in addition to the three blacksmiths, Wang Er was also at the forging workshop.

Cao Xiong looked around and saw dozens of forged short muskets neatly arranged.

"How many rounds have we played?" Cao Xiong asked Wang Er, who was helping him out.

"Uncle Cao, you've arrived."

"One hundred and six. We'll reach our goal in six more days," Wang Er said listlessly, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Once we've finished making 150 short muskets, let's stop making them for now." Cao Xiong felt that the current short muskets still needed further upgrades and modifications.

"Uncle Cao, why is that? Firearms are very easy to damage. If we don't make more, we might not be able to guarantee the supply." Wang Er asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The power and accuracy of the short musket have been resolved, but the long cooldown and reloading time are still problems that cannot be ignored."

"Next, further modifications are needed."

Upon hearing Cao Xiong's words, Wang Er nodded in agreement.

"Uncle Cao, don't worry, leave this to me."

"Commander, General Sha has returned, and Doctor Zhanghe wishes to see you."

Just as Cao Xiong and Wang Er were discussing the details of the next step in modifying the short flintlock pistol, a soldier suddenly arrived and reported that Zhang He and the others had returned.

Cao Xiong's heart stirred slightly, and he looked at Wang Er, "The matter of modifying the short muskets can be carried out after all of this batch of short muskets has been forged."

Afterwards, Cao Xiong returned to the barracks, where Zhang He and Mao Dafu were already waiting.

As soon as Cao Xiong sat down behind his desk, Zhang He placed the prescription and the finished product of the Corpse Plague Powder on the table.

"My lord, the antidote for the corpse plague has been developed and tested, and there are no problems."

Zhang He's face showed barely concealed excitement.

"Great." Cao Xiong took a little of the corpse plague powder and sniffed it lightly.

Good news keeps coming one after another today.

"Sir, the corpse plague is spreading rapidly outside the entire Guobei County and is out of control. We need to produce large quantities of corpse plague powder as soon as possible." Zhang He told Cao Xiong about the current situation of the corpse plague.

Cao Xiong tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "The production is necessary, but it requires a large amount of medicinal materials, and the county government will need to intervene in this matter."

"Tomorrow, you and I will go to the county government office in the inner city."

"Yes, sir!" Zhang He was relieved to hear Cao Xiong's plan.

Zhang He was not worried that the county government would not cooperate; if the plague was not resolved, the county magistrate's official hat would not be secure.

Only after Zhang He and Mao Dafu left did Cao Xiong open the prescription for the Corpse Plague Powder.

The list contains dozens of medicinal herbs, some of which, such as Acorus tatarinowii and Andrographis paniculata, are uncommon.

Mass production is also a troublesome matter.

"However, an antidote was eventually developed; otherwise, if all the people infected with the zombie plague had been killed, who knows how many more would have died."

Cao Xiong opened the panel and looked at the progress of [Tiger Stance - Tendon Refining Chapter].

He estimated in his mind that he would be able to break through to the late stage of the Tendon Refining Realm in about five days.

Once he breaks through to the late stage of the Tendon Refining Realm and his internal strength increases, he will be confident that he will be invincible against the Yaksha.

Cao Xiong got up and went to the courtyard behind the barracks to begin a new round of training.