Fang Xiang

This is both a work of science fiction and an exploration of the meaning of life, love, literature and art. Brainpower is no longer the main ingredient for being human in this far distant future world.  Spirituality, physical balance, and diligence all come together as integrity for Chen Mu, the Card Apprentice.  The cards which Chen Mu masters in his own scrappy way, distill all the powers of the cosmos –  human and nonhuman –  into something that is not a book, not technology, and neither art nor magic, but is these and more.  Learn about these strange cards, which can embody everything you might imagine for the future of technology, but also a future beyond technology which promotes the best, and sometimes the worst, from mankind’s past.

The Card Apprentice

Chen Mu had dared to make the bet because he was confident. Given that those materials were only ordinary, being able to make a card with a damage value as high as 721 actually implied outstanding ability. Chen Mu certainly never would have made the bet before he had made the numbered series of cards.

The numbered series of cards had been a watershed in Chen Mu's entire career. Those 20-some successful cards, along with nearly ten failures, had been both designed and made personally by him.

Because he hadn't been so influenced by the Van Sant System, Chen Mu hadn't been constrained by it. The creativity of the numbered series of cards had made people feel as though the skies had opened to something wonderful. Added to Chen Mu's ever-deepening understanding of Token Theory, the two combined to form the numbered series of cards, most of which had utterly fantastic power.

Chen Mu was now going to copy one of his own cards, 005 from the numbered series.

Gambling with Cards (II)