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

The drill ground was deathly silent.

No one expected that Cao Xiong, who had been stuck in the Skin Tempering Realm for decades and was already sixty years old, would actually break through to the Bone Forging Realm.

He overpowered the 21-year-old Fang Zheng with his strength, broke his right arm, and seized the position of commander.

Baihu Wei Qiang looked at Cao Xiong on the arena with a complicated expression.

He originally intended to take advantage of General Jia's death to promote Fang Zheng.

However, Cao Xiong's displayed strength left him no room for favoritism.

Even if Fang Zheng defeats Cao Xiong today, he cannot become the captain unless Cao Xiong's martial arts are crippled.

Cao Xiong's ancestors were hereditary centurions. Such people do not need military merits. As long as their level reaches the requirements of a general, Cao Xiong must be given priority when filling a general position.

Wei Qiang has risen to his current position through military merit and strength, and has long harbored resentment towards the hereditary military household system.

"I hereby announce that, starting today, Cao Xiong shall assume the position of First Chief Officer of the Hundred-Household Office of Guobei County, and shall be responsible for maintaining order at the North Gate of Guobei County."

"Thank you so much for your support!"

Cao Xiong remained calm, his hands clasped in a fist salute.

Wei Qiang and Xue Ding quickly left the training ground, and then a group of junior officers quickly surrounded Cao Xiong to congratulate him.

Fang Zheng, like a defeated rooster, hurriedly returned to his barracks, giving Cao Xiong a resentful look before leaving.

Although Cao Xiong was busy dealing with these banner officers, he was actually paying close attention to Fang Zheng's actions and naturally noticed Fang Zheng's gaze.

Cao Xiong decided that he must find an opportunity to eliminate this hidden danger.

He would not allow a highly talented enemy to grow under his nose.

After escaping the crowd, Cao Xiong went directly to the Military Merit Office.

After breaking through to the Bone Forging Realm, his current cultivation method was no longer sufficient for his training.

"Tiger Stance" is a standard training method provided by the imperial court to the garrisons. From skin tempering to tendon strengthening, each stage has a corresponding secret manual.

The officers and soldiers of the Military Merit Office obviously knew about Cao Xiong's promotion to the rank of colonel, so they did not show any surprise when they saw Cao Xiong.

The technique was easily obtained.

Cao Xiong left the military merit office and headed towards the barracks. Wang Er suddenly appeared out of nowhere and followed behind Cao Xiong, his smile never fading.

"Uncle Cao, when did you break through to the Bone Forging Realm? You didn't see it, but before, the people from Fangzheng looked down on me like I was something else."

"Just now, I deliberately walked around them a few times, and wow, their expressions were priceless."

Cao Xiong looked at the smug Wang Er and couldn't help but flick him on the forehead.

"You should focus on breaking through to the Skin Tempering Realm. That's what I'll do then. I'll promote you to a junior officer."

"Hehe, thank you, Uncle Cao. I will try my best. As you know, I have little talent and too many people to support at home, so I don't have enough money to practice martial arts."

Cao Xiong knew in his heart that with the current turmoil in the court, the status of hereditary military households was no longer what it had been two hundred years ago.

That is, the current state-level military households are hereditary military households, which is why these lower-ranking officers and soldiers can control the land in their hands.

In other places, many hereditary military households couldn't even keep their land.

Without money and food, how can one practice martial arts? The saying "the poor study literature, the rich study martial arts" is an eternal truth.

The two walked and talked, and soon arrived at the barracks.

Before Cao Xiong could even begin packing, Wang Er immediately ran to Cao Xiong's bedside. "Uncle Cao, you're a captain now, these things aren't your responsibility. I'll do it."

Now that Cao Xiong has been promoted to the rank of brigade commander, he no longer needs to squeeze into the dormitory with Wang Er and the others.

From now on, Cao Xiong will live and work in a separate barracks at the Baihu Office.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Wang Er had tidied up all of Cao Xiong's belongings, along with the two soldiers who arrived later.

The three of them followed Cao Xiong to the General Banner Barracks.

The General Banner Barracks has two rooms: the inner room is for living, and the outer room is used for daily office work. There is also a courtyard behind the barracks where people can practice martial arts.

Cao Xiong toured the area and was satisfied.

After putting the things down, Cao Xiong let Wang Er and the others leave.

Cao Xiong stretched comfortably. "I'm getting old, I don't like crowds anymore."

His ears were finally at peace.

A breakthrough in cultivation realm, a promotion in official rank—so many things happened in just half a month.

He was thinking about how to obtain more fragments and awaken new entries.

Guobei County is not close to the border, so to obtain more entry fragments, we still have to start with demons and ghosts for now.

If he were a centurion, that would be great. Suppressing bandits is also the responsibility of the garrison. Guobei County is close to the Ten Thousand Mountains and has a serious bandit problem, but Wei Qiang never interferes.

Give him some more time. Once he reaches the Refining Muscle Realm, we'll find a way to transfer him to another county to serve as a centurion.

Cao Xiong paused his chaotic thoughts and turned his attention to the "Tiger Stance" body-strengthening chapter.

As far as he knew, the ultimate goal of martial arts in this world was the third realm of internal cultivation, the Blood Refining Realm.

He was confident that he could cultivate to the peak of martial arts, but even those in the Blood Refining Realm were still mortals and could not break through the limit of lifespan.

He didn't know if he could cultivate immortal techniques; he had only heard of demons and ghosts, but never of immortal cultivators.

In his past life, he had seen a movie called "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," in which Yan Chixia used martial arts to attain Taoism and could fly and escape into the earth.

As he thought about it, Cao Xiong suddenly felt a surge of irritation.

Cao Xiong quickly calmed himself down.

I opened the "Tiger Stance" bone-forging chapter, and the first page contained the outline of the exercise.

"To establish a proper posture, first straighten your spine, then let your Qi sink to the Dantian (lower abdomen)."

"Use your mind to guide your inner breath, and use your blood to nourish your muscles and bones."

"Moving like a crouching tiger, still as a gnarled ancient pine."

……

In addition to the stance training and accompanying fist and foot techniques, the manual also contains a corresponding medicinal prescription.

Once you reach the Bone Forging Realm, standing meditation alone is no longer enough; medicinal baths become a necessity.

Cao Xiong read the exercise manual four or five times, and eventually, he unconsciously began to practice it.

"Bang bang~"

After an unknown amount of time, a knock on the door pulled Cao Xiong back from his training.

Cao Xiong exhaled a deep breath.

He opened the door and saw two soldiers outside, holding a brand-new set of armor and a willow-leaf knife.

"Commander Cao, these are your armor and sword."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for your hard work."

Cao Xiong took the armor and willow-leaf dagger from them, and only after the two men left did Cao Xiong enter the barracks to examine the new equipment.

The lancet and the flag officer's lancet were the same, just ordinary products.

It was far inferior to the ancestral ten-times-refined willow-leaf blade in Cao Xiong's hands.

Armor is completely different from lamellar armor.

The helmet was a bowl-shaped, water-polished iron helmet with protruding brow guards and three blunt neck plates. The armor was water-polished steel armor reaching the waist, with round guards on the chest and back. Shoulder and arm guards were also present, the bright steel plates gleaming with a cold light.

Cao Xiong put on the armor and practiced his punches and kicks a few times. The armor provided excellent defense and did not significantly affect his agility.

Over the next few days, Cao Xiong adapted to his position as the head of the regiment. He currently has five junior officers under him, totaling thirty-two people including himself, which is a serious shortage.

Fang Zheng originally belonged to the First General Banner, but after losing to Cao Xiong, he was transferred to Xue Ding's command.

Time flies, and five days have passed since Cao Xiong defeated Fang Zheng and became the chief flag officer.

At noon, Cao Xiong had just returned to the garrison camp from his inspection of the north gate of the county town when he received a summons from Wei Qiang.