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

At dawn, the twilight faded.

In front of Qingping Village, Cao Xiong led his officers, soldiers, and households in a neat line.

On the stockade walls, the bandits spread out, holding bows and arrows, ready to shoot the government soldiers at any moment.

The two chieftains of Qingping Village stood directly above the village gate, their expressions serious.

"Brother, why didn't Lord Mandrill make a move last night? Didn't he accept the tribute?"

The one who spoke was Wang Yu, the second-in-command of Qingping Village.

Another bandit leader was Wang Ning, the chief of Qingping Village; the two were brothers.

Upon hearing this, Wang Ning's expression turned even uglier. "Who can fathom what's on a man's mind? You hold out here, I'm going to the back mountain again."

"We've raised him for so many years, I don't believe he would just stand by and watch him die."

After saying that, the chief of Qingping Village turned around, climbed down the village wall, and ran towards the back mountain.

"Hey, big brother."

The second-in-command of Qingping Village thought that he could also ask the mountain demon for help.

The leader has run away, but he definitely can't run away, otherwise his men will surely fall into chaos.

Cao Xiong couldn't hear the conversation taking place atop the stockade wall.

His gaze was mainly focused on the walls of Qingping Village.

The stockade wall is nearly four meters high, comparable to a city wall, and is made of loess and stones.

It is evident that this group of bandits put a lot of effort into building their stronghold.

Unfortunately, they were not facing soldiers who would fill the gaps in the siege with human heads.

"Load the artillery!"

Cao Xiong's voice was deep and resonant, piercing through the morning mist.

"Crunch~"

The cannons, which had been prepared long ago, were pushed to the front of the battle line by several officers and soldiers.

The cannon he brought was called the General Cannon, which was about two meters long and weighed over a thousand kilograms.

Wang Yu, standing on the stockade wall, saw the cannons in the distance and broke out in a cold sweat. Although no one had ever seen cannons in the Ming Dynasty for three hundred years, their reputation was by no means weak.

Before he entered Caoqingping Village, he was somewhat of a scholar, and upon seeing this object with a long tube, he already had some guesses in his mind.

"My lord, Qingping Village has always been peaceful and law-abiding. Let's talk this out."

Wang Yu quickly spoke to Cao Xiong below, trying to buy some time.

As long as our elder brother can get the mountain demon to help, these government soldiers are nothing special, and Qingping Village will surely be able to turn the tide.

Cao Xiong remained completely unmoved upon hearing the words of the second-in-command of Qingping Village.

"Reload!"

He continued to give orders, and the soldiers operating the artillery immediately carried a lead bullet and filled the cannon.

"Boom!"

The cannon roared, and the shells shot off like arrows towards the gate of Qingping Village.

Smoke filled the sky as the gate of Qingping Village was blasted apart by cannon fire.

"Kill them all, leave no one alive!"

Cao Xiong let out a roar, which pushed the morale of the officers and soldiers of the Guobei County Hundred Households Office to its peak.

Cao Man patted his chest and strode forward.

The power of the cannons clearly exceeded the expectations of all the bandits, and chaos ensued on the stockade walls.

"Shoot! Shoot them all!"

"And smash those logs and pebbles too!"

Wang Yu hurriedly directed his men to resist the government troops' offensive.

At the same time, he took out a pill from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

He would patrol the stockade wall with a long knife in hand, and if he saw any bandits who were afraid or lazy, he would slash them with his knife.

Cao Man arrived at the gate of the village and leaped up onto the top of Qingping Village.

He didn't even flinch when arrows and pebbles hit him.

Xuanhua's giant axe swept across, sending all the bandits it touched flying and killing them instantly.

"court death!"

When Wang Yu arrived at Cao Man's side, more than twenty bandits had already died at Cao Man's hands.

Two minor leaders at the Skin Tempering Realm are putting up a fierce fight.

Wang Yu's momentum continued to rise as he engaged in fierce combat with Cao Man, the two fighting from the top of the stockade wall all the way into the mountain stronghold.

"Bang bang bang~"

A row of musketeers stood at the forefront of the government troops, firing arrows down from the stockade walls, deterring the bandits who were throwing stones from showing their faces.

As soon as Cao Xiong entered the mountain stronghold, he saw Cao Man's armor tattered and being beaten down by Wang Yu.

Wang Yu's aura fluctuated, and Cao Xiong could tell at a glance that this person must have also taken the Explosive Power Pill.

His original cultivation level was only at the early stage of the Bone Forging Realm, but after consuming the pill, his strength was no weaker than that of the late stage of the Bone Forging Realm.

"Sword Drawing Technique~"

Cao Xiong's figure was elusive and incredibly fast; in the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of Wang Yu.

With a flash of light, Wang Yu's body was severed at the waist by Cao Xiong.

[Kill a martial artist in the early stage of the Bone Forging Realm, 0.1 fragments]

"As expected, the difficulty of picking up the fragments has increased again. Before he obtained the Copper Skin Iron Bone, a Bone Forging Realm martial artist was worth 0.5 fragments."

The remaining ordinary bandits were at most warriors at the Skin Tempering Realm, so Cao Xiong lost interest in making a move.

Consider this training exercise. There will be more and more battles in the future, and it will be impossible to rely on him alone.

The battle ended quickly, and the corpses of more than two hundred bandits piled up into a small mountain.

Just as Cao Xiong was preparing to continue searching deeper into the mountain stronghold, he suddenly sensed something and looked up.

A monster arrived late, its breath heavy, making a whooshing sound as it walked.

The monster's face resembled an old pumpkin peel, its eyes gleamed with ferocity, its mouth was as large as a basin, and its few sparse teeth were three inches long, exuding a strong aura of malevolence.

"A mandrill?"

When Cao Xiong visited Wei Qiang, he heard his description, which was extremely similar to this strange creature.

He raised his hand to stop Cao Man, who was about to step forward, "This monster is at the Qi Refining stage; you are no match for it."

The mandrill stopped about twenty or thirty meters away from Cao Xiong, its nose twitching as it stared at the corpse, drooling.

Wang Ning, the leader of Qingping Village, appeared from behind the mountain demon. Looking at the mountain of corpses of the bandits who had been slaughtered, the hatred in his eyes almost turned into a sharp sword.

"I implore you, sir, to act swiftly."

"Hmph~"

The mandrill emitted a rough nasal sound and pushed Wang Ning aside.

He stuck out his long, thin tongue, licked the corner of his mouth, and strode toward the officers and soldiers.

"court death!"

Cao Xiong drew his Sniffing Demon Blade; this mountain demon gave him a similar feeling to Zhu Quanzi.

In the past, he might have backed down, but after awakening the Copper Skin and Iron Bones attribute, even without the Yin Thunder Pearl, Zhu Quanzi would not be his match.

The mandrill raised its fist and smashed it directly at Cao Xiong.

The enormous fist slammed down, compressing the air and creating a popping sound.

The longsword clashed with the fist, sending up sparks.

"Waaaah~"

The mandrill let out a mournful cry as a long gash appeared on the back of its hand from the Evil-Sniffing Blade.

Around the incision, the flesh and blood shrank.

The mandrill opened its gaping maw, and a foul stench assaulted the senses.

Cao Xiong felt a moment of dizziness, and his breath was venomous.

He could only retreat repeatedly, sheathing the Evil-Sniffing Blade.

Seeing Cao Xiong easily dodge, the mountain demon's murderous aura surged, and it moved with lightning speed.

It kept punching Cao Xiong, without any moves, only power.

"Perfect timing to test the limits of my copper skin and iron body."

Cao Xiong neither dodged nor avoided the mountain demon, engaging in a physical battle with it. The two fought evenly, neither gaining the upper hand.

Meanwhile, Wang Ning was keeping a close eye on the battle between the mountain demon and Cao Xiong.

Seeing how difficult Cao Xiong was to deal with, he popped a Power Explosion Pill into his mouth, preparing to join the battle, but was stopped by Cao Man with an axe.