I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

The walls of the South Camp, under the afternoon light, presented a texture completely different from those of the Burning Bone City.

The walls, built with a mixture of black basalt and bluestone, are nearly twice as thick as the walls of Burning Bone City. Although the array patterns and grooves on the walls have also been mostly filled by wind and sand, the basic structure of the walls still maintains considerable integrity.

The construction standards that the Fang family adopted when they were stationed here were far more stringent than those used to reinforce the walls of Burning Bone City.

The depth and spacing of those old array grooves are precisely uniform. Every so often, you can see a spiritual path node embedded in the wall. Although it has long since faded, the metal base is still embedded in its original position and has not been removed.

Under Lin Xuanqing's remote command, the engineering corps took the lead in taking over the repair work of the city wall.

Two hundred second-tier array masters were scattered across the damaged sections of the city wall, beginning to re-carve spiritual paths into the array grooves that had been filled by wind and sand.

The tip of the magic pen made a continuous rustling sound as it glided across the stone surface. The reactivated array patterns lit up one by one at a steady frequency in the afternoon sunlight, extending from the base of the wall to the surface and forming slowly flowing patterns of light on the wall surface.

As the light patterns extend along the wall, they briefly overlap with the remaining traces of the old patterned grooves at the intersection. New lines are covering the old traces, layering, correcting, and perfecting them.

Lin Xuanqing's message would arrive every half hour.

Her voice came from the communication jade slip, brief and direct, pointing out the node positions and spiritual path connection methods that needed to be adjusted. After the instructions were sent, the engineering team incorporated them into the construction process as quickly as possible.

After completing their combat mission, a large number of Dawn Army soldiers did not enter the city walls, but instead set up a temporary camp on the open ground outside the South Camp.

The tents, with spirit wood as their frame and thick cloth soaked in waterproof talisman liquid as their cover, are arranged in neat rows on the wasteland. From above, they resemble a divided chessboard, with the spacing between each row maintaining a uniform width.

The passageways between the tents were paved with gravel to prevent rainwater from accumulating in the soil. The gravel layer shimmered with a fine gray reflection in the afternoon light, extending along the path as a continuous ground marker.

The fire pits were scattered throughout the camp, emitting wisps of smoke that rose slowly in the afternoon light and were then scattered into irregular shapes by the wind.

The Spirit Beast Legion's encampment was located about three miles west of the South Camp, where there was a relatively open meadow.

The group of alligator snapping turtles scattered across the meadow, each occupying a small area. The faint yellow glow remaining on their carapaces was slowly fading as they entered a resting state.

The group of Cangming dragons hovered in the air about twenty feet above the meadow. Their bodies moved slowly at an almost still speed, like a series of curves suspended in the air, reflecting a continuous light blue halo in the sunlight. Their whiskers swayed in the wind at an extremely slow amplitude.

The golden lions lined up in an arc at the edge of the meadow, resting in the afternoon sunlight. The scales on their shoulder armor occasionally collided as they turned over, making a soft rustling sound. These sounds appeared at irregular intervals at the edge of the meadow, and were quickly covered by the sound of the wind.

The logistics troops' spirit beast chariots continued to drive in from the direction of Burning Bone City. The rumbling sound of the wheels rolling over the bluestone road as they were loaded with building materials, food and spare spirit materials created a continuous low-frequency echo inside the city walls.

Lin Xuandong stood at the edge of the square, holding an unfolded list of supplies, checking each item against the categories of supplies being unloaded from the spirit beast cart.

His fingers moved slowly across the list, drawing a horizontal line at the end of each line after checking each item. The lines extended downwards from the first line, continuing to descend as the spirit beast carriages arrived.

Behind him, a team of logistics soldiers were sorting and piling the unloaded supplies into the storage area inside the city wall.

Spiritual materials were piled up on the east side, recovery pills on the west side, and spare spiritual armor and a new batch of spiritual arrows were piled up in several empty barracks near the base of the city wall.

The South Camp is being restored at a visible pace from a ruin that had been occupied by a beast tide for three years into a functioning military outpost.

……

Lin Che stood on a relatively intact tower inside the main gate of the South Camp, his gaze sweeping from the inner side of the city wall under repair to the camp under construction, and then from the camp to the road outline that was gradually becoming clearer in the afternoon light in the distance.

Burning Bone Pass, Burning Bone City, and Southern Camp—these three locations are now under the control of the Lin family. As long as Black Wind Ridge allows passage and the fighting in the Green Water Gorge area ends, the Lin family's trade routes will truly be unimpeded.

If only it were that simple.

Lin Xuanqi arrived at the South Camp in the evening, bringing with him a detailed plan for the camp's renovation.

From the reconstruction of the city wall's array patterns to the functional zoning of the camp, from the regular rotation of material reserves to the rotation arrangements for different types of soldiers, every item has been marked and explained.

Not only him, but all the core members of the Lin family have arrived here.

An impromptu meeting was convened.

"The Fang family's allied forces outside Baicao Valley have completed their assembly!" Zhihei said, revealing the reason for the meeting.

The decisive battle between the Fang family and Baicao Valley is about to begin.

Once the Fang family achieves victory, there will be no force in the northern part of the Southern Region that can suppress them.

Even if the Lin family has taken over the Burning Bone Pass, when the Fang family has the time, they will still have to obediently hand over these three key points.

This is why the Fang family is so generous.

The Lin family understood this from the beginning, so why did Lin Che agree to the Fang family's request?

It's very simple; it's the "Southern Region Project 2" of the Rebellious Demon Palace.

The Lin family needed time to develop, and so did the Demon Palace of Rebellion. Therefore, the Demon Palace of Rebellion devised a plan called "Whale Breaking".

The core of the plan is to launch a major attack in the decisive battle between the Fang family and Baicao Valley, uniting the Lin family, Baicao Valley, Qingyun Sword Sect, and other forces to defeat the Fang family's coalition.

Once the Fang family suffers a major defeat, they will never regain their current momentum. Even if their foundation remains, it will definitely take time to raise such a large coalition force again.

What all parties currently lack most is time.

Needless to say, the Lin family and the Demon Palace of Rebellion are also mentioned. The Hundred Herbs Valley and the Azure Cloud Sword Sect suffered a major defeat and lost a large number of cultivators. It would naturally take time to continue cultivating them, not to mention that they also need to spare some time to deal with the surging beast tide.

"I plan to personally lead Xuanjing, Xuanfeng, and Xinqing to the front lines for this battle." Lin Che raised his gaze from the map. "Xuanqi, I entrust the development of the Lin family's new city and the renovation of Burning Bone Pass to you."

"Yes!" they all answered in unison.

"Okay, let's discuss the specific details next..."

…………

Outside Baicao Valley on the southern central line, the Fang family's allied forces are gradually deploying their formation along the mountain ridge.

This ridgeline runs across the northeast of Baicaogu Valley, mainly composed of gray-brown weathered rock, stretching for hundreds of miles from north to south, like an old wall that has been eroded over a long period of time, with its top covered with sparse drought-resistant shrubs and short grasses.

The tents of the Fang family's allied forces were arranged in a row along the shady side of the ridge. From a high place, they looked like a folded gray-white cloth. The tents were spaced at fixed intervals, and the passages between each row were compacted to facilitate the transportation of supplies and the movement of troops.

The array stretched out across the field of vision, extending from the near horizon to the distant edge of the horizon that was gradually blurring in the twilight, like a piece of light-colored fabric being spread out, with each fold corresponding to a camp.

After integrating the forces of its subordinate forces such as Chiyang Mountain, Yunshui Immortal Pavilion, and Xuanfu Sect, the total strength of the Fang family's allied forces has expanded to 800,000.

The core fighting force consisted of 120,000 elite cultivators mobilized by the Fang family headquarters, mainly composed of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise armies.

Each army maintained a complete organizational structure, and the colors of the spirit armor formed four continuously flowing bands in the formation, unfolding into an arc that covered the entire ridgeline.

The Azure Dragon Army was arrayed on the eastern section of the mountain ridge, with cultivators dressed in light blue spirit armor, and spearmen and crossbowmen as the main force.

Their formation unfolded gradually along the ridge, extending from the highest point to both sides, like a bowstring being drawn back, with each arc maintaining the same curvature as the adjacent segment.

The White Tiger Army was deployed in the western part of the central section, with sword and shield infantry and heavily armored assault teams at its core.

The spirit armor had a dark silver-gray color and shimmered with a subtle metallic luster in the afternoon light. The formation was thicker than that of the Azure Dragon Army, and the length of the horizontal column formed a distinct bulge in the mountain hollow in the middle of the ridge, like a blunt blade ready to make a horizontal cut.

The Vermilion Bird Army was deployed on a gentle plateau on the western section of the mountain ridge, with archers and crossbowmen as the main force.

The spirit armor was crimson in color, forming color blocks in the formation that corresponded to the dark blue spirit armor of the Xuanwu Army. The formation maintained a relatively wide spacing to facilitate a wide field of vision when firing.

The Xuanwu Army deployed in a defensive formation at the valley entrance behind the allied forces. Their spirit armor was dark blue, forming the last complete color block among the four color bands in the formation. The formation was a standard square, with sword and shield soldiers maintaining the defensive line on each side, and archers and crossbowmen standing by inside the square.

Fang Zhenshan, the commander of the Fang family's allied forces, stood on a makeshift command platform at the highest point of the mountain ridge. His gaze passed through the valley in front of him, which was cut apart by the afternoon light and shadow, and landed on the outline of the broken city wall of the first line of defense outside Baicao Valley.

Behind him, on the command platform, lay a detailed map of the terrain surrounding Baicaogu Valley.

The markings on the map are made with alternating cinnabar and ink. The markings are drawn with arrows of varying shades on the eastern and southern sections of the ridgeline. The direction of each arrow has been modified many times, and in some places the ink has been layered three or four times.

The command flag in his hand, with a deep red background and gold embroidery, swayed slightly in the afternoon breeze. The character "方" on the flag briefly appeared in a complete form in the wind at a tilted angle, before being scattered into a blurry outline by the next gust of wind.

The 800,000-strong formation began to advance after the order was given. Their steps, as vast as mountains and as deep as the sea, merged into a continuous, low rumble, like the breathing sound of clouds churning.

The main force of the Fang family's allied forces slowly advanced along the valley towards the outer perimeter of Baicao Valley, maintaining a complete and hierarchical marching order.

Scouts act as the vanguard, maintaining distance while the main force advances in echelons. Reserves maintain a fixed interval from the main force, ensuring that reinforcements can be provided from the rear within a predetermined timeframe should support be needed at the front.

The outer defensive line of Baicao Valley had actually been captured before the Fang family's allied forces set off.

The cultivators from Baicaogu who were stationed at the defense line had all withdrawn three days before the main force of the Fang family arrived. All the supplies that could be moved had been transported away, and the spiritual materials that could not be taken away had been disposed of.

It can be said that the vanguard of the Fang family's allied forces encountered no resistance after entering the defensive line.

This allowed the Fang family's allied forces to quickly establish themselves within the defensive line, enabling them to rest and regroup before continuing their attack on Baicaogu.

Meanwhile, the cultivators of Baicao Valley were making final defensive preparations within the core area.

According to reports from Xuanwang's spies, Baicaogu lost more than 70% of its combat strength in the previous battle, with a large number of spirit plant masters, alchemists, and array cultivators being killed. However, Baicaogu still has trump cards up its sleeve.

There is also a protective array within the valley, which is their foundation.

According to information gathered by Zhihei from various sources, this grand formation is called the "Ten Thousand Trees Rejuvenation Formation." It was personally set up by the founding ancestor of Baicaogu and has been reinforced by successive generations. It is estimated that it has reached at least the level of a fifth-tier top-grade formation.

The core array eye is connected to the spiritual veins within a thousand miles of Hundred Herbs Valley, which can disperse the impact of attacks into the spiritual veins within the array's coverage area, buffering and dispersing them through the vast network of earth veins.

If the Fang family's allied forces want to completely break through the defenses of Baicao Valley, they must first break through this protective mountain formation.

…………

Meanwhile, a thousand miles west of Baicao Valley, on the edge of Maple Leaf Ridge, the forces of the Rebellious Demon Palace were completing their final assembly.

Because the Fang family had blocked most of the routes into the Hundred Herbs Valley area, they did not take the main road, but instead bypassed the Fang family's reconnaissance range by following the edge of the dense forest on the outskirts of the Fulong Mountains. It took them longer than planned to complete the detour before they finally arrived at the designated assembly area.

Dark purple banners appeared and disappeared through the gaps in the tree canopy, and armor gleamed with a suppressed luster in the darkness of the deep forest, like rows of blades hidden in the shadows.

Their mission was to launch a surprise attack from the flank of the Fang family's allied forces and cut off their supply lines while the main force of Baicaogu was engaged in fierce fighting. However, their strength alone was simply not enough.

The Lin family's troops will directly support the Rebellious Demon Palace from the South Camp, cutting off the Fang family's supply line in one fell swoop.

Lin Che stood at the bow of the flying boat, his gaze passing over the ridgeline that was gradually blurring in the twilight, and landing on the distant war zone covered by spiritual light and dust.

Three days later, the battle between the Fang family's allied forces and Baicaogu will begin in full swing.

At that time, the monsters in the Green Water Gorge area will launch a general offensive against the Fang family's territory in the southern region.

The Qingyun Sword Sect's reinforcements will appear from the flank and advance towards Baicao Valley, providing support from the side.

But this doesn't look like a deployment that could influence the course of the battle at all.

Because these are all ways to attract the attention of the Fang family's allied forces.

The real mastermind is someone else.