The battle was over, and the passes had been recaptured.

The city walls were filled with jubilation, and the soldiers who had survived the ordeal slapped each other on the shoulders, finally showing some smiles on their faces.

But before this joy could even warm up, a new order came down.

Commander Lei called Fang Hao and several other Formation Masters over.

Pointing at the just-recaptured Panshi Fortress and Tiebi Pass, which were still smoking and in a chaotic mess, he waved his hand and said, "Don’t just stand there! Hurry up! While the other side is quiet, take the time to set up the defensive Formations for these two places again! Make them as sturdy as possible! Who knows when those bastards will attack again!"

Well, they hadn’t even taken a sip of the celebratory wine before they had to get back to work.

However, Fang Hao understood that Commander Lei was making sense.

These two passes were like the front teeth of Luoxia City; if the teeth weren’t set properly, the enemy could kick the door open with one blow.

The Formation was the gold brace on these two teeth, and it had to be secure.

"Guest Official Ning, you take a team and be responsible for Tiebi Pass."

"Steward Liu will take another team and be responsible for Panshi Fortress."

"Whatever Materials you need, go directly to the quartermaster to collect them; they will be supplied with priority!"

After Commander Lei finished giving instructions, he rushed off to arrange the defenses.

Fang Hao accepted the order and, bringing Little Grandson and several Formation Master apprentices assigned to him (all of whom were low-level Cultivators from Luoxia City), headed towards Tiebi Pass.

Little Grandson still had bandages wrapped around his arm, but he came along anyway, saying he could help out as an assistant.

Upon entering Tiebi Pass, the scene was truly unbearable to look at.

Several sections of the wall had been blown down, and the ground was covered in charred craters and uncleared bloodstains.

The smell of blood and burnt debris mixed in the air, choking people and making them cough.

The stone building where the original Formation core hub was located had been half-destroyed by the explosion, the Formation Plate inside was shattered all over the floor, and the Spirit patterns had been erased.

"This... this has to be done from scratch," a young apprentice said, looking at the mess with a bitter face.

Fang Hao wasn’t too surprised; that’s just how war was.

He rolled up his sleeves and said to everyone, "Don’t just stand there, let’s get to work."

"First, clear the ruins and find any usable Formation bases."

"Little Grandson, take two people to the quartermaster’s office and collect the Materials on the list."

He had already sketched out a reconstruction plan in his mind based on the terrain of Tiebi Pass and the original Formation blueprints.

Everyone acknowledged and started busying themselves.

Fang Hao didn’t idle either.

He jumped onto a section of the wall that was still relatively intact, activated his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes to their full capacity, and carefully observed the terrain of the entire pass, the flow of Spiritual Qi, and the remnants of the previously destroyed Formation.

"So that’s how it is..." After observing for a while, Fang Hao had a plan in mind.

The previous defenders’ Formation was mainly built relying on the wall itself, constructing a large "Thick Earth Vajra Formation."

Its defensive power was decent, but it lacked versatility and was easily countered.

Moreover, the distribution of the Formation nodes was not reasonable enough, which had led to Fang Hao easily finding the weak points before.

"This time, I need to make something sturdier," Fang Hao pondered.

He planned to carry out a drastic renovation based on the original "Thick Earth Vajra Formation."

The core concept could be summed up in one word—Resilience!

He planned to introduce the concept of the "Small Five Elements Cycle," focusing on Earth-type defense, but adding the "Flexibility" characteristic of the Water-type to allow the Formation’s light barrier to better disperse force when attacked.

He would also add the "Sharpness" characteristic of the Metal-type to give the barrier a certain reflective damage effect.

The Wood-type would provide "Vitality" to accelerate the Formation’s self-repair speed, while the Fire-type would serve as a backup attack method, capable of triggering flame counterattacks under specific circumstances.

In this way, the new Formation would no longer be a foolish turtle shell that just took hits, but a hedgehog that could defend, wear down enemies, and prick them back!

With the plan set, what followed was the tedious and intricate work of setting up the Formation.

Fang Hao first led the team to re-survey the Formation nodes according to the new design and set up more solid Formation bases in key locations.

This work required precision; a tiny error could lead to a massive failure, so Fang Hao did it himself, meticulous in every detail.

Then came the carving of the Formation patterns.

Inside and outside the wall, on the ground, and even in some hidden corners, dense and incredibly complex runes needed to be carved.

Fang Hao was responsible for the most core and complex parts, while the apprentices handled some basic auxiliary Formation patterns.

Although Little Grandson was injured, he helped by delivering Materials and assisting.

During this time, cold arrows were occasionally fired from the canyon opposite, or enemy scouts would spy from afar, making everyone nervous.

The soldiers guarding the pass had to strengthen their vigilance, and Fang Hao and his team had to keep an eye out while setting up the Formation, fearing they might be ambushed.

After working for most of the day, the basic Formation patterns were finally carved.

Next was the most critical step—connecting the nodes, injecting energy, and activating the Formation!

Fang Hao stood in the repaired Formation core stone house, facing a new, half-person-high Formation Plate covered in dense holes and grooves.

He needed to precisely embed hundreds of Mid-Grade Spirit Stones into the grooves according to a specific Five Elements attribute sequence, without a single error.

At the same time, he had to cast the activation incantations to guide the Spiritual Qi to flow smoothly through the vast network of Formation patterns.

This required extremely high focus and precise control over spiritual power.

Fang Hao took a deep breath, held his breath, and focused his mind, his hands flying like butterflies among flowers.

Spirit Stones of various attributes were accurately embedded into their corresponding positions, and at the same time, streams of pure seven-attribute spiritual power flowed from his fingertips like fine threads, connecting each node.

Fine beads of sweat gradually seeped from his forehead as his focus reached a high level.

Little Grandson and the others were watching nervously outside, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Time passed bit by bit, and when the last Earth-attribute Spirit Stone was embedded into the central groove, the entire Formation Plate suddenly lit up with a soft glow!

"Done!" Fang Hao shouted in a low voice, formed hand seals, and cast the final incantation into the center of the Formation Plate!

Hum—!

A low humming sound came from underground!

With Tiebi Pass as the center, the Formation patterns carved on the ground lit up one by one!

Earth-yellow, water-blue, metal-white, wood-green, and fire-red—the five-colored light flowed endlessly, finally converging above the wall to form a thick, condensed, huge light barrier radiating a five-colored halo!

On the surface of the light barrier, runes faintly flowed, giving one a feeling of being indestructible yet full of resilience!

"It’s activated! The Formation is activated!" The defenders on the wall let out a cheer!

With this light barrier, they felt much more at ease!

Fang Hao also let out a long sigh of relief and wiped his sweat.

Although he was exhausted, seeing the Formation he had personally set up running successfully gave him a great sense of accomplishment.

He walked out of the stone house and came to the wall.

Little Grandson came over and said excitedly, "Guest Official Ning, this Formation of yours looks much more powerful than the previous one!"

Fang Hao smiled but didn’t speak.

Whether it’s powerful or not, we’ll have to wait until the next battle to find out.

He looked up at the Black Wind Canyon opposite, shrouded in mist and bottomless, as if a pair of eyes were spying from the darkness.

He knew the temporary peace was just an illusion.

The Great Qin Empire would never be content with failure, and the next attack would only be more ferocious.

All he could do now was to do his best to reinforce these "front teeth" even more sturdily.

"Let’s go, let’s go to Panshi Fortress and see if Steward Liu needs any help," Fang Hao said to Little Grandson.

The mission wasn’t over yet; they couldn’t slack off.

Just as he turned around to prepare to go down the wall, the Guest Elder token in his bosom vibrated slightly again.

He took it out and looked; it was a new message: "Guest Official Ning, after the Formation is set up, return to the Luoxia City Assembly Hall immediately. There is an important matter to discuss. —Steward Mu Chengen"

Steward Mu Chengen of the Prince’s Mansion is summoning him personally?

Fang Hao frowned slightly.

Just finished the battle, the Formation was just set up, what "important matter" could there be now?

He faintly felt that there was probably another new, even more troublesome mission waiting for him.