Sadly, no. You just have to do it the new way, as the old way was considered an "exploit". So yeah, gotta make Valheim a part-time job if you want to build and terraform on a grand scale.

I don't usually bother with much terrain modification. Generally you're better off working with the terrain you have rather than modifying it too much. It's less work and less frustrating.

There were players doing some pretty wild things with the terrain, and they did change the system so people couldn't use some cheesy tricks to make their base near impossible for mobs to attack.

Try standing on a spot, raising it. Then another few towers next to it. Then try the levelling tool to pull them together. Might also get more joy by building a wall, and filling it. A lot depends on exactly what you are trying to do.

Just completed a test, set out a 4 x 4 grid pattern with wood, stand in middle of square, raise it to desired height. Do this by standing in middle of the box and looking down. Then face the gap and raise that. Its pretty quick and you get lovely straight raised ground walls. If you are starting on a very uneven surface, dig down a little, flatten, then raise it up. I built an 80m diameter circular fort and wish now that I had dug it all down first, and then built up, would have been faster.