Immortal Master Zhang Liang

He was a scion of a family of ministers that had served the Han state for five generations. When his country fell, his younger brother lay unburied. He gave away his entire fortune, all ten thousand gold pieces, for the sake of obtaining an iron hammer to assassinate the Qin emperor.

At Bolang Sand, a 120-jin iron hammer came hurtling through the air, struck the wrong carriage, and sent shock waves across the land. That blow failed to kill the First Emperor, but it sent the young man from Han, Zhang Liang, fleeing for his life for ten years.

At the bridge in Xiapi, he went down under it three times to retrieve the shoes of an old man sitting with his legs outstretched, then knelt to put them on the man's feet. At midnight, the old man gave him books: the Plain Book taught him the strategies of achievement, while the Yinfu Scripture taught him the way to observe and master the heavens, recognize the moment, and remain still. He told him, "Live in seclusion, embrace the Way, and wait for your time."

He spent ten years honing his blade. The moment he awaited was never revenge against one man, but the chance to change the fate of all under heaven.

Beacon fires rose across the marshes, and dragons and serpents emerged from the earth. On the road to Chenliu, he met a man of humble origins, a village chief from Sishui. From then on, he devised strategies from behind the scenes: securing Guanzhong, establishing laws and bringing peace to the people, rescuing his lord through a daring maneuver at the Hongmen Banquet, and crossing Chencang by a hidden route to win victory from a thousand miles away. Some relied on tricks and met their downfall; others received the books but thought little of their lives. He, however, always remembered: virtue is the foundation of strategy. A gentleman uses it to strengthen himself; a petty man uses it to put his life at risk.

When his work was done, he treated a marquis's estate and the title of imperial tutor as worthless. He wished to leave worldly affairs behind and follow Red Pine.

One hammer blow shook the world; one scroll settled the realm. The Sage of Strategy helped found the Han dynasty, which lasted four hundred years. The Celestial Master's teachings are hidden within a single book.