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

Familiar—why would he have that sense of familiarity?

When Chen Mu saw Butchie's vacant eyes, he finally understood where that familiarity was coming from.

Breath control! Chen Mu remembered having learned breath control from the mysterious card. Wasn't such a feeling rather similar to when he would use breath control himself? Could the two be somehow related? Or was it nothing more than a coincidental similarity?

Breath control was one of the two main feats of the Night of the Cross. That ancient school was endlessly mysterious in Chen Mu's eyes. The power of breath control had helped him get through a series of difficulties. At the same time, however, its powerful side effects had forced him not to make use of it for the time being.

It would be great if he could use breath control without the side effects. That absurd notion popped in Chen Mu's mind countless times.

A Bold Notion