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

The power of the Federation Comprehensive Academy had suffered a destructive blow from Qiao Yuan and the rest, and there wasn't much left. But because of the shrinking of their defensive zone, they had actually gotten stronger among the local powers.

Still, their situation hadn't actually gotten any better, and a lot of the aces had been wiped out among the card artisan reinforcements that had come later.

Within the current defensive area, only Zu Ning remained among those who could be called aces. But compared to the Central Repository of the Classics, Zu Ning wasn't any more than the level of Mi Xiaqing. If he were to encounter Qiao Yuan, he would die miserably.

Zu Ning was feeling terrible. He had never thought he would fall into such a predicament someday.

Fate is a Two-Edged Sword