The brush of creation is about to awaken. Cha Ming must pass its final test, lest oblivion takes him.
After two decades of training in the Heartforge Realm, Cha Ming’s soul is finally on the mend. He and his friends have advanced to the second phase of the Heartforge Trials, where they must defend a dying world from fiendish invaders.
Yet it isn’t just his friends who have come, but his enemies as well. When two aggressive neighbors start to nibble away at his territory, Cha Ming volunteers to buy his allies time. His actions instigate an all-out war between three regions, and countless innocents are dragged into the conflict.
Dabbling in the morally gray comes at a price. Cha Ming’s auras quickly fall out of balance and threaten to tear apart his foundations.
Yet this is only a backdrop to the greater conflict. The fiend outbreaks are getting worse by the day. To defend the Chasewind Plane, Cha Ming must awaken the Clear Sky Brush and embrace his destiny as the next Painter.
Author:
Patrick G. Laplante
Patrick Georges Laplante was born in a small town in the Canadian prairies in 1987. He began publishing Painting the Mists online under the pseudonym RedMirage in January 2018. An engineer by trade, he graduated from the University of Alberta in 2009 and completed his master’s degree in 2011. While writing and engineering have little in common, he actively utilizes his experiences and attention to detail in fleshing out a vivid world and answering the “whys,” which are often left unanswered in Xianxia fiction. As an avid vegan, he aims to prompt internal reflection in his readers through various themes like non-violence, choice, and begging the question: Is personhood restricted to humanity? And what is proper conduct, morality, and love? His work is inspired by a combination of Western fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, Chinese web novels, and various Japanese, Korean, and Chinese comics and illustrated novels. Patrick's hobbies include: reading, board games, and taekwondo.
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