Veiling his presence with stealth magic, Aji observed a sizable camp set up by a gathering of martial artists. The emblem embroidered across their robes identified them as members of the Gale Force Academy—the largest and most prestigious school on the Frost Line continent. Aji recalled their reputation; they, too, had mobilized to claim the Moon Flower.

This will become an endless war inside the Tulisma Forest, Aji thought. Word of the celestial artifact's arrival had spread at an alarming speed. He could only hope that when these orthodox sects crossed paths, they would choose cooperation over bloodshed.

Their true enemy was the dark army—a fact every cultivator needed to recognize. If they remained blinded by greed, driven to hoard the Moon Flower's divine power for themselves, their ranks would fracture. The threat of Lord Demon Shura was real, yet the greed of human hearts posed an equally dangerous hurdle.

Internal division and blind ambition would inevitably lead to their self-destruction.

Retreating silently into the shadows, Aji returned to his strike team. The operatives were waiting for him, and Aji promptly briefed them on his observations. Independent martial factions had established camps throughout the forest, all scouring the terrain in hopes of locating the Moon Flower to elevate their own schools' prestige.

Choosing an alternate vector to avoid contact with the independent sects, Aji's team resumed their advance. Maintaining stealth magic, they bounded silently across the high canopy.

After covering a considerable distance, they discovered a natural spring to replenish their water supplies. As they filled their canteens, however, they encountered a small party of traveling cultivators doing the same.

Aji offered a polite bow of greeting. The senior martial artist leading the group returned the gesture respectfully. They belonged to a regional sect, scouting the Tulisma Forest after encountering military defense units along the woodland perimeter.

Their account confirmed that regular defense forces had already crossed into the forest—a welcome development, as coordinating with organized military units would streamline their operations.

Offering a brief farewell, Aji's team pressed forward. The density of cultivators filling the forest was growing overwhelming. As they advanced, heavy dark clouds gathered overhead once more. Another storm?

Finding a nearby cavern, they stepped inside, only to discover it was already occupied by another group taking shelter. They belonged to the Red Rose Academy—a secondary sect composed entirely of female martial artists.

Gayatri quietly evaluated their combat parameters.

Their cultivation was modest; the senior instructress leading the twenty-person unit commanded a rank 8 core, while her disciples ranged between ranks 6 and 7. They had marched into the Tulisma Forest after receiving reports regarding the Moon Flower's manifestation.

Aji's suspicions deepened. He gathered his teammates near the mouth of the cave to confer in low tones.

"It feels as though someone deliberately lured every cultivator on the continent into this forest," Arion observed, leaning against his spear. "Why would classified intelligence regarding a celestial artifact be leaked so openly to minor sects?"

"Agreed," Nagada added. "This is highly abnormal. Over the past two days, the Tulisma Forest has become packed with rival sects, all eyeing one another with hostility. Do they truly expect to claim the Moon Flower for themselves?"

Alicia tightened her grip on her sheathed sword. "Could the dark army be behind the leak? If so, they intend to turn the righteous sects against one another—forcing us to cut each other down before the main invasion even begins!"

Gayatri nodded in silent agreement with Alicia's analysis. If that was indeed the dark army's strategy, the Sky Squad and military defense command had to step in as mediators to prevent the righteous alliance from collapsing over a single artifact.

The dark army was playing a long game, using the Moon Flower as bait to dismantle human unity from within.

Deciding to act, Gayatri approached the leader of the Red Rose Academy. Aruni, the senior instructress overseeing the twenty disciples, welcomed Gayatri warmly.

"Did your sect enter the Tulisma Forest specifically to seek the Moon Flower?" Gayatri asked gently.

Aruni hesitated, reluctant to disclose her mission to strangers. However, when Gayatri revealed her official identity as a Sky Squad operative, Aruni's posture relaxed, and she spoke candidly.

Roughly a month ago, the Red Rose Academy—a minor, third-tier school with limited resources—had received an anonymous letter.

The missive detailed the properties of the Moon Flower, explicitly addressed to their school. It claimed that securing the celestial artifact would grant their academy absolute stability and global renown, highlighting both its immense market value and its power to elevate a cultivator's parameters.

Guaranteed a path to elite standing in the martial world, the academy's leadership had yielded to temptation, dispatching their finest disciples to scout the Tulisma Forest and secure the artifact.

As the tempest outside subsided and the thunder faded, the Sky Squad bade farewell to the women of the Red Rose Academy. Resuming their advance, Gayatri's group transmitted a spatial signal via their communication artifacts to coordinate a rendezvous with the other two teams.

By late afternoon, all three teams successfully converged at the designated coordinates. Bounding through the high branches, the operatives greeted one another warmly; traversing the vast forest on foot had taken several days of continuous travel.

Gathering beneath a dense canopy, the three teams cross-referenced their field observations.

Their findings were identical. Every team had encountered dozens of independent sects and minor academies marching into the forest, all having received anonymous missives or sudden rumors regarding the Moon Flower's arrival.

Furthermore, every team had discovered sites of brutal massacres along their routes—gruesome scenes where isolated or smaller parties had been slaughtered by roaming dark army squads.

The entire situation was a calculated trap. Cultivators from across the five continents—particularly the Frost Line region—had been deliberately funneled into the vast expanse of the Tulisma Forest.

Meanwhile, the environmental volatility grew more pronounced, with localized thunderbolts and heavy rain lashing the canopy continuously. Grandmaster Jinho warned the squad that the celestial artifact's manifestation was imminent, as such extreme elemental disturbances signaled the flower's impending bloom.

Bracing themselves for the coming clash, the Sky Squad extended their sensory aura across the woodland, monitoring the positions of nearby sects while scanning for the suffocating signatures of dark magic lurking in the shadows.

Fierce skirmishes were breaking out across multiple sectors, but the squad could not intervene in every clash. If the chaos continued unchecked, orthodox sects would suffer catastrophic losses, having dispatched ordinary rank 6 and 7 disciples who were easily overwhelmed by dark operatives.

"Could this be linked to the Blood Supreme?" Grandmaster Jinho pondered aloud, his expression darkening.

The Blood Supreme was the dark celestial artifact wielded by Lord Demon Shura—a sinister weapon unique to the dark army. It possessed the horrific capability to siphon the residual life force of deceased cultivators, converting their fallen aura into pure nourishment for its master.

Through the Blood Supreme, ambient life force extracted from the slain was instantly filtered and refined, permanently amplifying the user's internal core.

If this global gathering was engineered to feed Shura's recovery, the righteous sects were walking into a slaughterhouse. Enticed by the promise of the Moon Flower, hundreds of martial artists were being slaughtered so their life force could be harvested by the dark artifact.

Realizing the terrifying plausibility of Jinho's analysis, the Sky Squad acted without delay. They needed to alert regular military task forces deployed inside the forest immediately.

Leader Barsha immediately contacted Lord Dasatama in Prisma City via her communication ring. Though Dasatama remained at central command, he had already dispatched Commander Yarko and Master Gonan into the Tulisma Forest at the head of a massive military vanguard.

Heavy defense task forces were already sweeping the woodland—a crucial force that could be deployed to counter the dark army's trap.

Barsha established contact with Commander Yarko, whose main force was positioned a day's march away. They agreed to merge their ranks at first light to coordinate a joint strategy.

By dawn, the Sky Squad united with the military defense force. Escorted by Aaman, the military convoy presented an intimidating sight: thousands of elite martial artists marching in formation, with even the lowest-ranking foot soldiers commanding a minimum cultivation of rank 6.

Numbering in the thousands, the military force had mobilized with total resolve, determined to support the Sky Squad in preventing the dark army from securing the Moon Flower.

Furthermore, volunteers from various martial arts alliances had joined the military ranks, having finally awakened to the reality of the dark army's infiltration into regional governments and martial academies.

The dark forces had revealed their hand, proving that after twenty years of preparation, their second grand invasion had officially begun.