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

When Cao Xiong arrived at the barracks, he saw a list of medicinal materials for the Corpse Plague Powder that Zhang He had submitted the day before, on the desk.

The list above includes dozens of medicinal herbs and their corresponding quantities.

Guan Tai was very efficient; he gathered the raw materials for 1,800 doses of Corpse Plague Powder in just two days.

"It's not enough." Cao Xiong sighed. This time, the zombie plague spread rapidly and affected a wide area.

Although the exact number of infections cannot be determined, it is certainly more than two thousand.

In the past few days, the Hundred Households Office has dispatched two officers and soldiers from the General Banner and more than 400 military households to continuously kill the plague corpses.

Cao Xiong dared not imagine how many people in Guobei County would die after this plague.

Unless the Tree Demon Granny is eliminated, Guobei County will never be at peace.

"Bang bang~"

A series of urgent knocks on the door interrupted Cao Xiong's thoughts.

"Go in!"

Cao Xiong looked at the newcomer, who was a soldier guarding the Hundred Households Office.

"A messenger from the Hundred-Household Commander's Office of the County City requests an audience with you."

Cao Xiong wondered what the Qianhu Office was doing sending people at this time.

"Bring him to me."

A short while later, a junior officer from the Thousand Households Garrison entered Cao Xiong's barracks.

"Zhao Guo, a junior officer of the Linya Commandery's Thousand-Household Office, pays his respects to Commander Cao."

"What orders does the Thousand Household Office have?" Cao Xiong asked, looking at the newcomer.

"No, I came to Guobei County on the orders of the commander to deliver a reward to the centurion Cao."

"Commander Cao, please take a look."

Before Zhao Guo finished speaking, he placed a document in front of Cao Xiong.

The post contained a simple message praising Cao Xiong for rescuing Fu Tianchou's family some time ago.

The post ended with details of the rewards: 500 taels of silver, 10 bolts of cotton cloth, and 5 Nourishing Pills.

Cao Xiong was fairly satisfied with the reward from the Thousand Households Office; the silver and cloth held little appeal for him.

Unlike the Nourishing Strength Pill, this is a rare high-grade pill that can enhance a martial artist's internal strength.

One Nourishing Strength Pill can save dozens of days of hard work, and is worth a hundred taels of silver; it is priceless and unavailable.

Seeing Cao Xiong put down the official document, Zhao Guo continued, "Commander Cao, the items are outside. In addition to the reward from the Thousand-Household Office, I have also brought a thank-you gift from Vice Minister Fu."

"I don't know exactly what it is; it needs to be confirmed by Commander Cao himself."

Cao Xiong raised an eyebrow. "Thank you for your hard work, Officer Zhao."

Zhao Guo quickly clasped his hands in greeting, "Commander Cao, you flatter me. Your martial arts are superb. I have heard a lot about your deeds in the county town and have long admired you."

"Haha, Officer Zhao, you're too kind. I was just doing my duty." Cao Xiong was unmoved by these words.

"Commander Cao is too modest. You are the commander who has made the most contributions in slaying demons and monsters in Linya County this year," Zhao Guo said sincerely.

Afterwards, Cao Xiong had someone arrange for Zhao Guo to rest, while he went outside the barracks.

Three large boxes, sealed with tape, were placed in the center of the yard.

Cao Xiong opened the wooden boxes one by one and took out the porcelain bottle containing the Nourishing Strength Pill from the first box.

He casually waved his hand and put the Nourishing Power Pill into his storage bag.

He paid no attention to the cloth and silver, but instead looked at the gift of gratitude that Fu Tianchou had given him.

There was also some silver inside, probably two or three hundred taels.

What really caught Cao Xiong's attention was a golden inner armor inside the wooden box.

Cao Xiong held the inner armor in his hand and felt its weight. It was a thin layer of inner armor, but its weight was comparable to that of a set of armor for a centurion.

"Good stuff. Fu Tianchou is indeed a high-ranking official of the court; he's very generous."

Cao Xiong put the inner armor and all the silver into his storage bag.

He possesses the attribute "Copper Skin and Iron Bones," and while this inner armor is valuable, it's not very useful to him.

Besides the inner armor, there was also a dagger inside the wooden box.

Even after the dagger was half-drawn, one could sense that its material was extraordinary, containing a strong aura of malevolence.

Cao Xiong put the dagger into his bosom and wore it close to his body.

At the very bottom of the wooden box were two letters, one of which was written to him by Fu Tianchou, expressing his gratitude to Cao Xiong.

The rest were just polite words, which Cao Xiong didn't take to heart.

As for the other letter, it was written by Fu Qingfeng.

"Uncle Cao, my father has agreed to let me become your apprentice. I will give you the apprenticeship gift next time I go to Guobei County."

"Master, you can't refuse my request to become your disciple."

……

Cao Xiong chuckled, not expecting Fu Qingfeng to be so serious, ultimately not letting go of the matter of becoming his disciple.

Next, Cao Xiong took the Nourishing Strength Pill and continued practicing martial arts.

He had only heard of the Nourishing Strength Pill, but had never used it.

Unexpectedly, the effect was so good that a single Strength Nourishing Pill actually increased his proficiency in the [Fierce Tiger Stance - Tendon Refining Chapter] by ten points.

Cao Xiong ended his seclusion again when he received news that Wang Er had forged 150 short firearms.

"Uncle Cao, I have fulfilled my mission. Uncle Lu and three blacksmiths have completed the forging of the short musket."

Wang Er held a blueprint in his hand, and the smile on his lips never disappeared.

"Not bad." Cao Xiong laughed along.

With these short muskets, the combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers of the Hundred Households Garrison skyrocketed, and they were able to greatly reduce the mortality rate when facing hordes of monsters in the future.

"Uncle Cao, regarding the shortcomings of the short musket you mentioned last time, I've come up with a solution. I've already discussed it with Uncle Lu, and we think it's feasible." Wang Er's tone carried a hint of pride.

"Tell me, how do you want to improve this?" Cao Xiong was very interested in Wang Er's method.

During this period of free time, Cao Xiong also thought about how to modify the short firearm.

However, he wasn't an arms enthusiast in his previous life, and he really couldn't figure out how to improve things with the current level of technology.

"Uncle Cao, I think we can separate the barrel from the main body of the short musket, and then equip each short musket with several sub-barrels."

"After the short flintlock musket has finished firing, the heated barrel is removed and replaced with a barrel pre-loaded with lead bullets."

Wang Er pointed to the unfolded blueprints and said to Cao Xiong.

"That's a good idea," Cao Xiong responded after a moment's thought.

"Uncle Cao, don't worry, Uncle Lu said that this idea can be realized in half a month at most." Wang Er gave Cao Xiong a boost of confidence.

"You're still in charge of this matter. Just do your best. Also, remember to go to the treasury and get some silver as a reward for completing the forging of this short musket."

"Ten taels of silver each for the three blacksmiths, and fifty taels each for you and Old Lu." Cao Xiong already had a preliminary idea in mind about integrating these special talents.

One of them is receiving rewards for completing tasks.

"Hehe, thank you, Uncle Cao." Wang Er's eyes lit up when he heard about the fifty taels of silver.

Based on Wang Er's standard of living, fifty taels of silver would be enough for his large family to live on for two years.

After Wang Er left, Cao Xiong picked up paper and pen and began to devise a plan on how to bring these special talents together.

Cao Xiong looked at the spread-out Xuan paper and, as if possessed, wrote down the four characters "The Hundred Schools of Thought".