What do you think?
Rate this book
Painting the Mists #5
Corrupted Crimson
Some debts are never forgiven. Even in death…
When Cha Ming goes to help his friend Wang Jun’s ailing business in the capital, the last thing he expected was to compete with a seer. Their opponent is always one step ahead, and it’s sink or swim in this devil-infested marketplace.
To make matters worse, the king has been poisoned. Cha Ming is barely keeping him alive. If they don’t find a cure, a fight for succession is all but certain…
But the Song Kingdom’s issues run deeper. Evil spirits have sown deep seeds of resentment. Cha Ming and his friends must pull them out by the roots, because if they don’t, a civil war will be the least of their worries.
285 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 23, 2019
About the author
Patrick G. Laplante
37 books74 followersPatrick 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 25, 2020
For my personal preferences these books were just worth the read. Then the writer made a story choice in this final book that put me off completely.
September 2, 2019
I enjoyed the progression of the story.
The author continues to have the characters grow as they experience many adverse events in the progression of the story. The pacing was good and I enjoyed the fight scenes.
The author continues to have the characters grow as they experience many adverse events in the progression of the story. The pacing was good and I enjoyed the fight scenes.
April 29, 2022
an awesome mess
This book has it all to keep you entertained and hooked for several hours.
The plot is an entangled mess of events that combine martial arts scenes in a cultivator world where demons roam free disguised as ordinary people.
The underdogs always win, obviously, but how the author delivers the story makes it feel different than the old boring plot of underdog-becomes-overpower awesome-lord.
The plot continues consistently to previous books. The pace is quick enough not to get you bored and other than wishing the main guy dies so you can focus on better characters, this book will undoubtedly deliver some hours of fun reading.
This book has it all to keep you entertained and hooked for several hours.
The plot is an entangled mess of events that combine martial arts scenes in a cultivator world where demons roam free disguised as ordinary people.
The underdogs always win, obviously, but how the author delivers the story makes it feel different than the old boring plot of underdog-becomes-overpower awesome-lord.
The plot continues consistently to previous books. The pace is quick enough not to get you bored and other than wishing the main guy dies so you can focus on better characters, this book will undoubtedly deliver some hours of fun reading.
April 17, 2020
Progression could have been better
I think more could have been done in this book it just doesn't feel like the first few in the series. Also why isn't core formation just the beginning in a long journey in cultivation? Yet in these series they're talked about as if progressing beyond that is unheard of. That I don't like. Power levels in these books are kind of low even though they go through so much. That's just how it reads in my opinion. Though the author does try to teach lessons in all his books which I believe is kinda cool.
I think more could have been done in this book it just doesn't feel like the first few in the series. Also why isn't core formation just the beginning in a long journey in cultivation? Yet in these series they're talked about as if progressing beyond that is unheard of. That I don't like. Power levels in these books are kind of low even though they go through so much. That's just how it reads in my opinion. Though the author does try to teach lessons in all his books which I believe is kinda cool.
March 2, 2019
Love It
This is was just like the others in the series, filled with excitement and adventures. If you like Chinese fantasy with martial arts and cultivation to immortal heights you will love this.
This is was just like the others in the series, filled with excitement and adventures. If you like Chinese fantasy with martial arts and cultivation to immortal heights you will love this.
June 25, 2019
5 down one to go
Having finished the first 5 books in astounded at how well paced these books are. Normally with cultivation novels the MC has become all powerful by the end of book 2... Still growing still brilliant. On to book 6
Having finished the first 5 books in astounded at how well paced these books are. Normally with cultivation novels the MC has become all powerful by the end of book 2... Still growing still brilliant. On to book 6
December 2, 2021
Giving this a 3 star rating is rather generous. But I laughed out loud at several points in the book so that earned it 3 stars. Now I pray that the author stops changing to POV's that I don't give 2 shits about like the war too the south way too much focus on that instead of the MC's plot.
May 24, 2022
A lot of different story lines that have been going on in this book that seems to converge. I was hoping for more resolution out of this book but I guess that may come in the future. I say, “may” because positive outcomes are not guaranteed in this series.
December 16, 2022
good
Nice progress for the story.
Not sure about the After world being so tech, but I guess it makes sense with the different planes have different technology levels / magic systems.
Nice progress for the story.
Not sure about the After world being so tech, but I guess it makes sense with the different planes have different technology levels / magic systems.
April 11, 2019
Need more
June 18, 2019
Battle of Song
A lot of intrigue in this one. Some power ups bit I really didn't feel like the characters evolved much. So not my favorite of the series. Still enjoying it.
A lot of intrigue in this one. Some power ups bit I really didn't feel like the characters evolved much. So not my favorite of the series. Still enjoying it.
September 24, 2019
Another enjoyable read
There were some bits toward the beginning that almost made me stop reading, but I am glad I did not.
There were some bits toward the beginning that almost made me stop reading, but I am glad I did not.
May 10, 2020
Good
A good entry into the book series, I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book released.
A good entry into the book series, I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book released.
February 14, 2021
Great read, love the story development and the structure of the narrative.
February 22, 2021
16.12.2020 - 4*
September 1, 2021
Nice
I like the plot of the story and I think it's been very interesting to get the story out there. The characters are amazing and they have been very successful in the series
I like the plot of the story and I think it's been very interesting to get the story out there. The characters are amazing and they have been very successful in the series
April 11, 2024
Great book and series
I really enjoyed this series. Each book leaves me wanting the next. Highly recommend it. Cannot wait to see what the next challenge will be.
I really enjoyed this series. Each book leaves me wanting the next. Highly recommend it. Cannot wait to see what the next challenge will be.
April 16, 2023
DNF
Might contain spoilers, but only from the first 99 mins of the audiobook.
Yeah, no. Dude's brother just randomly eats something given to him by their worst enemy, then shrugs the whole thing off, since no one can poison him. He bases this on the fact, that a quite weak friend of his had a poison, and he was immune to that one. In a world, where ascended, super powered, godlike beings exist. Where people drink tea from other, higher realms. Where there's freaking magic on every single corner. No. Just no.
Because of this, I was already irritated, when some weird mood swings started to happen. This is one of the laziest ways to generate fake drama, imo. They are not fighting each other because of their previous choices, their personalities or their world views. No, they are fighting, because the author decided, that they should fight, so he/she wrote in a tool, that can make them fight each other, regardless of how stupid and out of character it would be for them to fight.
If the whole fighting is because of the non-existent food poisoning (speculation on my part, didn't get far enough to know), then this book didn't deserve the second star.
Might contain spoilers, but only from the first 99 mins of the audiobook.
Yeah, no. Dude's brother just randomly eats something given to him by their worst enemy, then shrugs the whole thing off, since no one can poison him. He bases this on the fact, that a quite weak friend of his had a poison, and he was immune to that one. In a world, where ascended, super powered, godlike beings exist. Where people drink tea from other, higher realms. Where there's freaking magic on every single corner. No. Just no.
Because of this, I was already irritated, when some weird mood swings started to happen. This is one of the laziest ways to generate fake drama, imo. They are not fighting each other because of their previous choices, their personalities or their world views. No, they are fighting, because the author decided, that they should fight, so he/she wrote in a tool, that can make them fight each other, regardless of how stupid and out of character it would be for them to fight.
If the whole fighting is because of the non-existent food poisoning (speculation on my part, didn't get far enough to know), then this book didn't deserve the second star.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews