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

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out behind the bandits. People from Qingfeng Village, with red silk ribbons wrapped around their wrists, rushed out of Xinshan and launched an attack on the bandits.

Many bandits were killed before they even understood what was happening.

"Liu Mingzi, how dare you betray the alliance!"

In the chaos, someone let out a heart-wrenching roar.

The bandits were caught in a pincer movement, and the soldiers of the Guobei County Hundred Household Office had long known of the existence of Qingfeng Village.

Upon receiving reinforcements, they launched a frantic counterattack.

Cao Xiong looked around and saw two mountain bandits at the Bone Forging Realm ganging up on Cao Man.

"Sword Drawing Technique~"

Cao Xiong moved with lightning speed, arriving beside Cao Man in the blink of an eye.

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

……

Just after Cao Xiong dealt with the two mountain bandits at the Bone Forging Realm, he suddenly sensed a murderous aura.

"Cao Xiong, prepare to die!"

Xin Dahu suddenly appeared, wielding a spiked club, exuding an imposing aura.

Cao Xiong dared not be careless; the aura emanating from the newcomer faintly indicated that he had reached the early stage of the Tendon Refining Realm.

"This person must be Xin Dahu, who took the Explosive Power Pill."

Cao Xiong drew his sword to block the spiked club and engaged Xin Dahu in battle.

Xin Dahu was clearly no match for Cao Xiong. After only two rounds, his arm was slashed by the Evil-Sniffing Blade.

Feeling the unusual wound on his arm, Xin Dahu's eyes turned bloodshot.

He took out a wine pot-like object from his pocket, pressed it gently, and a puff of red smoke came out of the spout.

The smoke quickly filled the air, locking onto Cao Xiong.

Cao Xiong held his breath immediately, but the smoke seemed to penetrate everywhere and seep into his body.

After the smoke entered his body, Cao Xiong's internal energy circulation became increasingly sluggish.

Xin Dahu's lips curled up. "Cao Xiong, let's see how you fight me."

"Bang!"

The spiked club landed heavily on Cao Xiong, and Xin Dahu felt his hand go numb.

Looking at Cao Xiong again, he was completely unharmed.

"Is this the magic weapon you use to specifically counter martial artists?"

Xin Dahu was taken aback. "You're actually alright?"

Cao Xiong naturally wouldn't tell Xin Dahu that he possessed the entry for "copper skin and iron bones".

Suddenly, Xin Dahu's face turned pale, and it felt as if a venomous snake was writhing and biting inside his stomach.

Seeing that Xin Dahu was acting strangely, Cao Xiong temporarily abandoned the idea of ​​sucking him into the reel.

"The wind sweeps away the remaining clouds~"

Without the support of internal energy, Cao Xiong's swordsmanship became significantly less powerful.

However, his knife skills and speed were by no means inferior.

Xin Dahu barely managed to stabilize the abnormality within his body and used his internal energy to block Cao Xiong's attack.

"Ah~"

Xin Dahu could tell that Cao Xiong had no internal energy, which must be because he was being restrained by a magical artifact.

Xin Dahu, having gained the upper hand, pressed his advantage relentlessly, unleashing one blow after another with his spiked club.

Cao Xiong withstood the blow, retreating several steps to create distance between himself and Xin Dahu, before throwing a scroll from his chest.

With a thought, the scroll floated in mid-air and unfolded automatically.

Xin Dahu glanced at the scroll, his vision blurred for a moment, and then his body disappeared from the spot.

A figure appeared on the blank drawing paper; it was Xin Dahu.

Cao Xiong retracted the scroll and looked elsewhere. Under the combined attack of the government and Qingfeng Village, the mountain bandits were routed.

Without hesitation, he drew his sword and joined the battle.

……

Blood stained the earth red.

Soldiers from the Baihu Garrison in Guobei County were cleaning up the battlefield, where the bodies of the bandits were piled up.

"This humble citizen, Liu Mingzi of Qingfeng Village, greets Your Excellency."

Cao Xiong looked at the person in front of him. He exuded the aura of a Bone Forging Realm martial artist, but he was wearing a white long robe, which was often worn by scholars. He held a sword in his left hand and a feather fan in his right.

"No need for formalities. I promised you that after this bandit suppression, I would appoint you as a captain."

"Thank you for your guidance, sir!"

Liu Mingzi knew he had made the right bet, and his body finally relaxed.

"Immediately inventory all supplies in the stronghold, and leave this place after an incense stick has burned."

After sending everyone away, Cao Xiong went alone to the bandit's corpse and took out the scroll.

All the bandit corpses were swallowed by the scroll.

Not long after, soldiers began carrying things out of Xinshan.

This harvest was greater than ever before; Xinshan truly deserves its reputation as the number one bandit force near Guobei County.

After looting Xinshan, Cao Xiong assigned tasks to all the junior officers and the people of Qingfeng Village, instructing them to plunder supplies from the other mountain strongholds of the bandit alliance.

He then led the military households to collect the remains of the fallen soldiers, along with the gold, silver, and provisions found in Xinshan, and returned to Qingping Village first.

Cao Xiong went to the room he had stayed in before, sat cross-legged on the bed, opened the scroll, and went inside.

The first thing you see is Xin Dahu lying on the ground, looking utterly dejected, which shows that he has suffered quite a bit in this scroll.

Hearing the commotion, Xin Dahu looked up at Cao Xiong, his face filled with anger, "If you've got the guts, kill me then, come on."

"I'll grant your wish."

Cao Xiong flashed to Xin Dahu's side, grabbed his neck, and lifted him up.

"Cough cough~"

"I surrender."

Xin Dahu's face turned bright red, and his previous arrogance vanished.

Feeling Cao Xiong's increasing strength, Xin Dahu struggled violently, "Lord Cao, I was blind to your greatness, I..."

"Shut up!"

Cao Xiong gave a soft shout, and Xin Dahu immediately shut his mouth, not daring to speak.

"Tell me about the origin of this treasure."

He held in his hand a magical artifact shaped like a wine gourd that Xin Dahu had used before.

"My lord, this treasure is called the Ghost Smoke Bottle. I obtained it from a cultivator."

"According to that cultivator, this treasure was originally made to deal with cultivators, but there was a mistake in the making process, so it is ineffective against cultivators, but it can suppress the internal energy of martial artists."

"Very well, you can die now."

"Kaba~"

After getting the information he wanted from Xin Dahu, Cao Xiong decisively crushed Xin Dahu's neck.

[Defeat a late-stage Bone Forging Realm martial artist, 0.1 fragments]

Xin Dahu's body fell to the ground and disappeared shortly afterward, clearly having been absorbed by the scroll.

The scroll space, which had absorbed the corpses of hundreds of bandits, expanded to nearly twice its original size.

Cao Xiong nodded in satisfaction. Even without any offensive means, the scroll could still be a storage magic item capable of holding living beings.

[Fragments: 3.4-5]

Cao Xiong looked at the panel; the progress of the fragments was too slow, and he probably wouldn't be able to acquire any new entries in the short term.

The focus should remain on practicing martial arts.

Two days later, all the officers and soldiers returned to Qingping Village, bringing back a huge amount of supplies.

These things are the accumulation of these mountain bandits over more than ten or even twenty years.

The alliance that wiped out Xinshan has basically eliminated most of the bandits on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Mountains. What remains are just some small groups of bandits who roam around and are not worth worrying about.

Cao Xiong immediately ordered a return to Guobei County. Every extra day they stayed would increase the danger.

He still remembered the tiger demon sent by the tree demon to attack the soldiers.

If he hadn't learned from Nie Xiaoqian that the Tree Demon Granny didn't have time to deal with him, he probably wouldn't have stayed on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Mountains for so long.