As the Green Scale Gathering came to an end, the ripples it had stirred were far from settling.
The founding of the Gaolin Chamber of Commerce was no different from dropping a thunderbolt into Gaolin County, sweeping every faction into the whirlpool.
Driven jointly by the Huang Family, Zhu Clan, Weapon Forging Shop, and Wangyuan Escort Agency, this colossal beast extended its tangled, deep-rooted tentacles.
The first to feel its biting chill were the wealthy households and smaller clans.
Under the combined pressure of several factions, most chose compromise and submission.
Only a small few with deep roots, or ties of kinship to the Luo Family, Han Family, and the like, were still barely holding on.
But this was only the beginning.
Before long, the spearhead of suppression turned toward the martial arts academies and schools founded by martial artists.
The wealthy households and shops that had once hired guards, martial artists, and sparring partners, and even some insignificant part-time appointments at the County Yamen, all quietly vanished without a trace.
The reasons were astonishingly uniform: the Chamber of Commerce was centrally assigning manpower, optimizing resources, and had no vacancies for the time being... Using the resources under its control, the Gaolin Chamber of Commerce had nearly cut off sixty percent of the martial arts academy disciples' livelihoods in one stroke.
One had to know that martial arts academies differed from martial arts schools. Most of their disciples came from humble backgrounds and had counted on finding a part-time appointment after cultivating Bright Strength, earning silver to sustain their path in martial arts.
This move struck directly at the martial arts academies' Vital Gate.
Every martial arts academy in the Outer City was gripped by panic, with gloom hanging heavy in the air.
Liu Ze and Shen Zhenzhong were also