The Ten Divine Strategies: Formations That Guard the Rivers and Mountains

In the year 1380 of the Divine Era, the Ten Peerless Beauties of Hundred Blossoms Valley used divine weapons to quell the violence sweeping the martial world, restoring peace to the jianghu. But the realm’s chaos never ended. The nations of the Nine Provinces splintered into rival states as warlords rose on every side. Empires waged war year after year, cavalry trampled the land, and flames of war consumed thousands of miles. The people were driven from their homes, bones littered the wilderness, and livelihoods collapsed as the realm plunged into the cataclysm of imperial warfare.

The Twin Valleys stood side by side, equally renowned. Carefree Valley used strategy to bring peace to the realm, while Hundred Blossoms Valley used martial prowess to pacify the jianghu. Si Tu Feng, master of Carefree Valley, poured his life’s work and cultivation into writing the peerless treasure, the Ten Divine Strategies. It encompassed the mysteries of military tactics, strategy, formations, agriculture, commerce, mechanisms, medicine, governance, and political intrigue. Master just one volume, and you could bring peace to a region; master all of them, and you could unite the Nine Provinces. The strategies were bound by the will of Heaven. Anyone who coveted them, no matter how near or far, would suffer a shattered heart meridian and die on the spot. No one dared give in to greed.

Ten sage strategists, all disciples of Carefree Valley born into aristocratic clans, each guarded one of the legendary volumes. United in purpose and standing shoulder to shoulder without a hint of discord, they were revered as the Ten Strategists and the Ten Great Commanders. Among them, Zhuge Qin held the first volume, “Formations That Secure Ten Thousand Mountains and Rivers,” and mastered the world’s formations, defensive and offensive deployments, and the strategic defense of mountains and rivers.

To end the wars among the nations and save the people from disaster, the Ten Strategists traversed the war-torn realm, using their ingenuity to turn the tide of battle, formations to defend the land, and their counsel to aid wise rulers. They did not compete through martial prowess, but used political strategy to shape the realm, gradually dismantling the warlords’ rule and ending imperial warfare. In the end, they helped a worthy ruler unite the Nine Provinces. Once their work was done, they all turned away from power and retired from public life, leaving behind an age of peace recorded for all time.