Due to the uneven terrain of the gorge, the surrounding path was completely obscured. To guard against ambush, Vihaya kept his troops tight against the cliff face, meaning they only needed to watch one side...

There was no need to be alarmed; the cliff was the sheer drop of the Tiangang Mountains, hundreds of feet high. It was practically impossible for anyone to set an ambush on the precipice above...

The Tiangang Mountains were fraught with peril, teeming with strange beasts and venomous insects. Even his own Mastiff-Lion Corps dared not venture deep into them. It could be said that unless someone sought suicide, no general would ever send troops into those mountains—only Ye Jingyu dared to attempt such a thing...

Of course, this had much to do with the large number of martial artists he commanded. If they were ordinary soldiers, Ye Jingyu would never have dared to send them in; after all, the Tiangang Mountains were too dangerous; without considerable skill, survival was nearly impossible...

Hadn't these thousand elite fighters already lost over a hundred men? Not to mention the ordinary soldiers...

Thus, Vihaya swore he would never believe the enemy would attack from the sky. He rode his golden Mastiff-Lion at the very front of his formation, looking up to see the Iron Army encamped on a low hill...

"It seems they've spotted us. Marshal Di, He Wei, the two of you take a thousand men each as the vanguard. Let them taste the might of our Mastiff-Lion Corps first..." Seeing Ye Jingyu and his group already settled, a cold sneer played on Vihaya's lips. If they were on the plains, facing elite cavalry clad entirely in armor, perhaps the Mastiff-Lion Corps would pose a threat. But in this terrain, ordinary horses could barely walk, let alone charge. Without cavalry, how could even the strongest defensive line withstand the Mastiff-Lions' assault?

"As you command, General..." Di Shuai and He Wei stepped forward simultaneously, ready to select their troops and charge, when the sound of shattering glass echoed from the sky. They instinctively looked up...

They saw bottles and jars of all sizes falling from above. Some had already broken open, spilling great amounts of oil...

"General... what... what is that?" Di Shuai's mouth hung wide open...

"Clang..." Before Vihaya could answer, an oil flask the size of a baby bottle plummeted, aimed straight for his head. Vihaya drew his scimitar with a flick of his wrist. A flash of blade light severed the flask—which was made of thin crystal (a highly fragile mineral)—into shards. But the burning oil inside splashed down, drenching Vihaya entirely...

"Danger! This is burning oil!" Upon smelling the thick odor of the substance, Vihaya's expression changed drastically...

But at that moment, more bottles rained down. The soldiers of the Mastiff-Lion Corps raised their weapons, slicing the falling objects down, causing the pungent oil to spray over their bodies and the Mastiff-Lions they rode...

It was precisely then that Ye Jingyu, standing on the hilltop and watching this rain of oil, allowed a faint smile to cross his face...

"Qi, light the first fire for them," a soft voice issued from Ye Jingyu. Hu Yanqi, who had long prepared his flaming arrows, immediately released his bowstring. Behind him, Hu Yanmeng and the other twenty archers of the Hu Yan clan also loosed their arrows...

Although they lacked Hu Yanqi's mastery to strike a Mastiff-Eagle thousands of feet in the air, shooting at a distance of less than a thousand meters on level ground required no real aiming...

In an instant, twenty-two flaming arrows whistled through the air toward the Mastiff-Lion Corps. At the same time, Ying Xiaoxiao, positioned high on the cliff, gave the order. The more than eight hundred soldiers, already exhausted, mustered their last strength and ignited every remaining oil bottle, hurling them down...

Suddenly, over a thousand fiery meteors descended from the sky, crashing directly into the heart of the Mastiff-Lion Corps...

Having just been struck by thousands of oil flasks, the vast majority of the men were coated in burning liquid. Seeing the streaks of fire descending, their faces turned ashen with terror...

Vihaya watched the scene, his own face draining of color. He knew the Mastiff-Lions' weaknesses and the threat of fire attack, but he believed archers needed to be at least a hundred paces away, allowing the Lions a few breaths to charge. He never imagined such a terrifying assault could come from a distance of only a thousand meters...

Just as he was about to order them to scatter, a streak of fire shot directly toward him. Every hair on Vihaya's body instantly stood on end as he unleashed his innate True Qi wildly, forming a massive shield before him...

Hu Yanqi's arrow struck the True Qi shield and exploded violently. Though it failed to pierce Vihaya's innate defense, the scattering sparks landed on his Mastiff-Lion. With its thick fur already saturated with oil, the beast ignited instantly, enveloped in roaring flame...

"Roar!" A pained shriek ripped from the golden Mastiff-Lion's throat. Its enormous body instinctively rolled towards the ground, throwing Vihaya, who was mounted upon it, clear into the air...

But more flaming arrows and fire meteors crashed down. The entire Mastiff-Lion Corps was instantly engulfed in a terrifying blaze...

The intense fire shot skyward. The Mastiff-Lions let out desperate cries, leaping wildly to extinguish the flames on their bodies. But this only spread the fire to other Lions, engulfing more and more beasts...

The soldiers on their backs were not wearing armor, but garments made of incredibly tough vines. These vines could resist sword strikes, their hardness sometimes exceeding that of standard armor, and they were very light, perfectly suited for the nimble Mastiff-Lion warriors. However, these vines offered no defense against fire...

Those who hadn't been splashed with oil at least had a moment before catching fire. But the warriors soaked in oil ignited almost immediately. Within a single breath, at least a thousand soldiers were engulfed in flames, and at least two thousand Mastiff-Lions were consumed by the blaze...

Overwhelmed by the searing pain, these two thousand-plus mutated N-grade Mastiff-Lions went utterly mad. Losing all their former docility, they bolted wildly in every direction...

This only caused more Lions to catch fire and subsequently charge into others...

The entire Mastiff-Lion Corps descended into absolute chaos. Everywhere echoed the agonizing cries of men and beasts alike. Countless soldiers were thrown to the ground, writhing in agony—some consumed by fire, others crushed to bone beneath the stampeding Lions. It was, quite simply, an earthly hell.