The patriarch's eyes scanned Henry from head to toe and stared at Henry's legs in confusion and doubt.
"Don't worry Uncle. They are my legs, not someone else's," Henry replied as he moved his legs like a footballer.
"How can you walk again? The master rank healer said you won't be able to walk again in this life," the patriarch asked without moving his eyes from Henry's legs.
"I don't know, uncle. A few days back my sweet wife gave me some herbal soup and I suddenly got my legs back. Maybe God decided to give me my legs back as I am a good person," Henry replied casually.
That negligent answer from Henry made the patriarch even more astonished. Ryon did not understand what to say now.
"Uncle, why don't you first give me those two spirit stones? I want to go and sleep."
Henry directly stretched his hand for the two spirit stones while all the elders and children watched him with dire expressions.
The patriarch Ryon, who was in a shocked state, unknowingly took out two spirit stones and placed them in Henry's hand.
"Wait! Father, he is not eligible for two spirit stones. He is still a Class 1 Magus. Look at his cultivation!"
Philip Clark shouted from the other end as he pointed his finger at Henry.
But the patriarch ignored his son and walked back towards his chair in a state of deep thought. Several thoughts were running inside his mind. Till now he thought Henry was no longer a threat to his son's claim as the next patriarch. But now, Henry was walking fine, with more vitality than he expected.
Inside his mind the patriarch was already making plans to finish him directly. That's why he decided not to show any anger right now. Seeing the ignorance from his father, Philip also fell silent.
Just as the patriarch asked everyone to leave, the door servant came running to the family hall and announced, "Patriarch, the Ping family servant is here. He came to deliver a challenge letter."
"What? A challenge letter?"
"Who offended the Ping family?"
"Why are they sending a challenge letter at this time?" Loud murmurs followed as all the elders and younger children stared at each other with looks of surprise.
Some of the younger children, including Suman, turned towards Henry with a look of doubt.
"Call him in," Patriarch Ryon ordered.
In the next second a servant who was wearing Ping family servant clothes entered the family gathering hall and began reading the challenge letter.
"Dear Henry Clark,
I, Hen Ping, the rightful heir of the Ping family, am challenging you for a duel at the Silver Pond tomorrow. As you are the one who announced that anyone can challenge you with Spirit Stones, I'm sending this letter of challenge. Tomorrow at sunrise I will be waiting for you. If you didn't come, it means you are accepting your defeat."
The servant finished reading and handed the letter to the head servant and left. Everyone's eyes were on Henry, who stood in the corner with his wife Luna.
But no one saw any type of fear or nervousness on the face of Henry. Instead they were shocked to see a smile on his lips.
"Why the hell is this idiot smiling like a nerd?" the Spell Master Jin muttered in frustration.
"I don't think he can defeat Lady Hen Ping. She's very strong in her family, I heard," the bookkeeper commented from the side.
Before the patriarch asked any questions, Henry lazily left the family hall with his wife.
"Everyone, leave! Tomorrow morning you will all receive your spirit stones and train hard for the recruitment. I don't want to see anyone sloppy or lazy. If you fail to join the academy, I will give hectic punishment and won't allow any further resources from the family. Do you understand?"
The patriarch shouted as he stood up and left.
All the youngsters stared at each other's faces with a bit of nervousness and the elders also began to leave as they were still sleepy. Meanwhile the patriarch gestured to the bookkeeper and the Spell Master to follow him to his study.
-
-
-
"Husband, can you not go tomorrow? I know Lady Hen Ping. She is very strong. She even defeated my sister once," Lady Luna asked with a look of nervousness as she walked beside him towards their home.
"Don't worry wife, I am strong enough to defeat her in one move. Also this is exactly what I wanted. Tomorrow we will get more spirit stones," Henry replied while placing a hand over her shoulder.
"What? You are going to bet more spirit stones but we don't have any. How can you pay them?" Luna asked with a doubtful face.
"Why should we pay? Tomorrow we are going to win in any case. Don't worry about all these things. Your husband knows exactly what to do. You just write more things to buy in a list. Tomorrow I will pamper my wife," Henry said while pinching her cheeks with a playful smile.
Luna turned her face shyly even though she was feeling nervous inside.
-
-
-
Meanwhile in Patriarch Ryon's study room…
"How the hell did it happen?" he asked the bookkeeper and the Spell Master with a look of anger in his eyes.
"No Patriarch, why would we do that? After you gave instructions how could we dare to help him?" the bookkeeper said in a hurry.
"Then how the hell is that cripple walking again like a hero inside my family?" the patriarch asked in rage as he directly tossed the wine glass against the wall.
"Patriarch, he must be hiding a secret. It's definitely not us who helped him. If not, ask Young Master Philip. After Henry got his legs he came asking for resources but we both rejected him directly," the bookkeeper said in a stuttering tone.
"Yes Patriarch, this is the truth. Not only that, when I denied giving resources, that fellow Henry even threatened to kill me within 30 days. He even wrote '30' on my door," the Spell Master Jin said with begging hands as h.e almost knelt.