Decay of the major families (9)

From the reports collected on the clan, currently, it operated more like a merchant clan than a clan whose roots were in alchemy. They chased lucrative deals all over with fervent passion to the point of undercutting others ruthlessly in the pursuit of those profits and connections.

Anyone who wasn't at a certain standard, they reduced their association with them, even with those they had a history with like what they did with the Zhang clan by reducing the quota of support they provided them at the border in support of the war efforts.

They suppressed whoever got in their way, be it the founding families like the Chen Clan whom they had a deep feud because the former had decided to try their hand at alchemy which the Gui clan saw as their sole domain and property, or some competitors with no background who refused to lower their heads and submit to them.