71. (Revised) Hearing the question about their father, the proud smile on Serena's face instantly vanished without a trace. The shoulders of the young girl who had been standing so upright before tens of thousands of enemy troops suddenly slumped down. Her hand, which held the steel helmet at her waist, gripped it tightly until her knuckles turned white. Seeing the drastic change in his younger sister's expression, Theodore's heart immediately pounded hard. A bad premonition instantly seized his chest. "What's wrong?" Theodore's voice lowered, filled with a cold pressure that demanded an answer. "What happened to Father in the North? Tell me right now, Serena!" Serena bit her lower lip, hesitated for a moment before finally letting out a heavy sigh that sounded so bitter. "Father's condition... has been very bad lately, Theo," Serena revealed in a soft voice laden with heavy burden. "We deliberately hid this news from you and from the capital's spies so as not to trigger panic at

For the past three years, their relationship had become severely estranged simply because of Theodore's blind obsession with Lily Spencer. Every time Serena came to the capital to persuade him to return home, Theodore would always snap at her coldly and choose to stay for that bitch. Serena had even thought they had lost the older brother they used to be so proud of forever. But today, Theodore himself had chosen to return home! "Of course," Theodore nodded, carving a faint smile at the corners of his lips. "The Northern Territory is my home. I have been away from Father, Mother, and all of you for far too long." Hearing that answer, Serena's initially tense expression instantly brightened. A wide, deeply sincere smile bloomed on her beautiful face, which was still smeared with soot. Her heart was filled with immense joy; after years of being torn apart by misunderstandings, their family would finally be whole again! "Excellent! In that case, I will immediately order the of

Inside the main command tent, a warm atmosphere enveloped the conversation between the siblings.Upon hearing Theodore’s decision to return immediately to the Northern Fortress and shoulder his family responsibilities, the heavy burden that had been weighing on Serena’s shoulders seemed to be lifted entirely. The girl in black steel armour smiled broadly, her silver eyes sparkling with joy.“At last, our family will be reunited!” exclaimed Serena enthusiastically. “Mum and Dad will be so relieved to see you home, Theo. I’ll go out straight away and order the officers to prepare for our departure tonight!”Serena turned and was just about to step towards the tent’s entrance curtain.But suddenly…The faint smile on Theodore’s face vanished instantly.His gaze wavered slightly, then narrowed sharply towards the ceiling and the canvas walls of the command tent!“Serena, step back!”Without the slightest hesitation, Theodore lunged forward in one long stride, gripping Serena’s armour-clad

The spiritual energy coursing through Theodore’s veins boiled furiously. However, facing a combined attack from two Rank-7 Grandmasters unarmed was far too risky—especially when one of them wielded a Masterwork-grade weapon! At that critical moment in the opposite corner of the tent, Serena realized the mortal danger threatening her brother’s life. “Theo! Catch!” Serena shouted. Kicking away one of the Rank-6 assassins in front of her, Serena swiftly drew a dark-silver sheathed longsword strapped to the back of her armor. Without hesitation, she mustered all her strength and hurled the heavy weapon across the room, straight toward Theodore! This was no ordinary military sword. It was the Northern Sky-Splitter—the Cordova family’s primary heirloom. Forged from eternal ice meteoric iron, it was a legendary masterpiece whose power far surpassed the sword Theodore had once given to Lily. Serena had deliberately brought it from the Northern Fortress to return it to their family’s rig

Despite being caught completely off guard by such a cowardly sneak attack, Serena’s combat instincts—honed across thousands of battlefields—reacted purely on intuition. Gritting her teeth, she spun her body as fast as humanly possible, raising her longsword across her chest. She channeled every last ounce of her spiritual energy to parry the fatal strike! CLAAAANGGG! The Rank-7 master's curved dagger smashed into Serena's blade with the crushing weight of a collapsing mountain. The massive disparity in their cultivation realms shattered Serena’s defense instantly. The longsword in her hands was violently knocked aside, and she was sent flying backward for several meters, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood. Thanks to her lightning-fast reflexes, she had successfully deflected the attack from directly piercing her heart or throat. However, in the midst of that high-speed collision, the tip of the Grandmaster's dagger still managed to slice through a gap in her left shoulder gu