All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 358 - 8: Linlang Commerce Chamber, The Beginning of the Oligarchy (2/3)

Chapter 358: Chapter 8: Linlang Commerce Chamber, The Beginning of the Oligarchy (2/3)

——So that’s how it is, this is the process of original capital colluding with local martial forces at critical moments, joining hands to encroach on civilian assets and evolve towards local militaristic oligarchy.

Having realized this, An Jing nodded slightly, pointing his sheathed blade at the elder, commanding the latter to bow his head, "You are sidestepping the important issue, you are in a cooperative relationship with the Linlang Commerce Chamber."

"Your team is composed of Ferocious Beast Hunters around Broken Blade Mountain and Herb Pickers familiar with the terrain, this also gave you the opportunity to eliminate those competitors... I guess quite a few Hunting Manors and Herb Pickers unwilling to cooperate with Linlang Commerce Chamber have been driven away by you, or even killed, right?"

"Yes, yes..." The elderly Hunter knelt on the ground, kowtowing until blood appeared, "Blinded by greed, this is all retribution, all retribution..."

"Indeed, it is retribution." An Jing paid no attention to the other’s confession at this moment, he mused, "Your team has always been independent, moving through the great mountains and living among the beasts, maintaining strong independence and secrecy, also to avoid being controlled and divided by the Linlang Commerce Chamber."

"And because of this, you have caught the eye of the True Demon Sect, and then they took over your nest, completely controlling you, becoming their guise hidden around Broken Blade Mountain."

"In addition, the orders from Linlang Commerce Chamber have become more and more excessive. At first, they used you as a knife, encroaching on the assets around Broken Blade Mountain, and now, they have started hiring you, perhaps along with other Horse Bandits and bad elements, to attack the Escort Master convoys sent to aid with supplies..."

"What are they trying to do? Completely cut off the connection between Broken Blade Mountain vicinity and the outside world?"

An Jing fell deep into thought.

The first thing that came to mind was that Linlang Commerce Chamber and the True Demon Sect were cooperating, planning a Blood Sacrifice of Linjiang City.

But soon, he dismissed the idea.

The Linlang Commerce Chamber exhibited pure greed.

They took advantage of the catastrophe to complete resource consolidation, fully control the prime assets around Linjiang City, aiming to become an unassailable oligarchy in a certain region.

The goal of the Commerce Chamber was to make money, make more money, and control more resources.

In this respect, Linlang Commerce Chamber was nearly successful, there was no need to cooperate with the Demon Sect, and moreover, if they were truly planning to blood sacrifice Linjiang City, why would they bother forcing people out and buying up assets earlier?

As for the purpose of the True Demon Sect, An Jing had his speculations.

Taking into account the attention the Great Heavenly Demons at Hanging Fate Manor clearly showed towards Subdue Evil, An Jing could only believe that the Heavenly Demon faction, for various reasons, also came to know of the presence of Subdue Evil shards around Broken Blade Mountain.

The Frost Calamity Northern Barbarians turned the vicinity of Broken Blade Mountain into a lawless land with no Da Chen officials, the Beast Tide blocked the actions of all civilian martial artists, and the Guidance Squad was the perfect, rational identity that could travel deep in the mountains, while those Hunters and Herb Pickers also knew the mountains deeply, allowing them to locate Phenomena related to Subdue Evil shards.

Did Linlang Commerce Chamber truly know nothing about the True Demon Sect? An Jing doubted it, at least they were using each other.

Because prior to this, the Guidance Squad also cooperated with the Linlang Commerce Chamber, and once the Beast Tide ended, those martial forces behind the Guidance Squad would almost monopolize all the gains within Broken Blade Mountain. Their alliance would become a colossal local interest-martial force group that would not be inferior to the Linlang Commerce Chamber.

Obviously, this wasn’t something Linlang Commerce Chamber wanted to see. Hence, it is very likely that the Commerce Chamber had a cooperative channel with the True Demon Sect, where the Commerce Chamber would assist the True Demon Sect with some supplies and cover, and the True Demon Sect would help eliminate these Guidance Squad martial artists. When questioned later, they could pin the blame on the True Demon Sect.

If that’s the case, then Linlang Commerce Chamber must have a channel to transport food and medicine.

They manipulate the True Demon Sect/Guidance Squad to blockade the support supplies meant for Linjiang City, all to monopolize all food and medicine, to control all resources within the city, and to complete the re-consolidation of the city’s assets!

An action full of ambition and courage. An Jing could even be certain that there was definitely support from Da Chen officials behind this; otherwise, the Linlang Commerce Chamber could never behave so recklessly.

Perhaps there were even more hidden secrets, but these were beyond what An Jing could analyze at the moment.

"Xu Tai."

Looking up, An Jing turned to the Escort Leader standing beside him, already furrowing his brows, "You’re from around Linjiang City, do you know the situation there?"

"Mhm."

As if waking from a profound dream, ever since the Hunter elder began telling about their collaboration with the Linlang Commerce Chamber, this Martial Artist couldn’t stop his hand from incessantly reaching for the handle of the blade at his waist.

Now, suppressing his anger, he took a deep look at the dispirited Hunter elder before him and calmly said, "Strictly speaking, I’m not from the city—outside the walls of Linjiang City there is an outer city, home to fishermen and other poor people; I was born in that place of poverty."

"In earlier years, my parents were overworked and had chronic illnesses; they passed away a few years ago, and since then I haven’t really gone back. But in my memory, it was a rather decent city; the villagers outside were poor yet honest, and whenever I helped them, I could always get a fish to take home."

"One fish a day nourished my body and gave me the chance to enter the Martial Arts Academy."

"Although the wealthy and the lords within the city were above us, they never discriminated against me for coming from the outer city—at least they didn’t consider me a rival worthy of their competition and even tried to win me over. Often, they would treat me to meals, and before I went back home to eradicate the Horse Bandits, they even gifted me this blade."

Xu Tai patted the long saber by his side, which was also a Magical Soldier. Though it couldn’t compare to the Tyrant Sea Blade or An Jing’s previous Purple Glowing Mace, it was still a mid-grade Magical Soldier with two types of prohibition Art of Magic.

You get what you pay for, and a bowl of rice earns you a word, Xu Tai shook his head with a complex expression, "Although I disdain to be associated with their mediocre lot, I also don’t want to speak directly ill of them... they’re not bad seeds."

"In any case, my impression of Linjiang City is still not bad, and this time I also wanted to help my hometown folks, which is why I led the team to transport grain back."

"But now it seems..."

"Yes, the situation is not looking good."

An Jing stood up, opened the door, letting the severe cold wind flood the room. He paid no attention to the kneeling, trembling Hunter elder, but looked in the direction of Linjiang City, "Considering the Linlang Commerce Chamber’s methods, even those in the city with some property would be exploited by them, drained of their last bit of money."

"If my mother were in the city..."

An Jing fell silent for a moment, then said, "How much do you know about the Linlang Commerce Chamber?"

"The strangeness lies right here."

Xu Tai furrowed his brows tighter, "The Linlang Commerce Chamber is a major commerce chamber from the Prefecture Government side; it’s said they have connections even within the imperial court (Divine Repository has access to imperial conferences)."

"With such a powerful backing, why would they suddenly come to our kind of remote countryside to make money?"

"What are their main business operations?" An Jing asked, and Xu Tai thoughtfully replied, "Very diverse. They pretty much do everything, even taking on commissions for robbery; there are quite a few Martial Artists."