Ian's Methods, the Secret Realm's Middle Layer-Memory Wasteland, White Fang's Shock, the Retest!

Elemental Mysteries.

Returning after a year, Ian found that the Academy's overall atmosphere had changed once more, becoming even colder.

The difference was that the moment Ian landed, he saw quite a few familiar faces coming to welcome him.

Among them were Ferman and Audrey from the Chamber of Commerce, Wizards from the school, and some Wizards from the Academy.

They all had their own purposes.

Ian quickly got a grasp of the situation, then headed first to the Bayers Chamber of Commerce, since it was now his property.

"How are things now, Lord Cassian?"

97

Ian asked.

Cassian reclined on the sofa and pushed over a document. "Things haven't been good this past year. The Ancient Vine Chamber of Commerce has a core disciple behind it after all, and they've eaten away at quite a bit of our influence." As he spoke, he pushed another document across the table. "These are the accounts from the past year. See for yourself."

Ian opened it.

Numbers did not lie.

The Chamber's profits had fallen from twenty thousand Magic Stones a month at their peak to eight thousand now. Their channels had shrunk by a third, four partner Lineages had been lost, and even several long-term clients had been poached.

"The Ancient Vine Chamber of Commerce has a core disciple of Winter Academy behind it, Ice Trace," Cassian added. "After your preliminary test, he did stop the targeted suppression, but ordinary business competition—"

He gave a bitter smile.

"The Ancient Vine Chamber of Commerce is more than twice our size. Their channels are broader, and their connections run deeper. Even ordinary competition is more than we can bear."

Ian flipped to the final page and closed the document.

"What else?"

Cassian glanced at him and sighed. "New Chambers of Commerce have also