A Divided Realm: The 108 Heroes of Shu Han

In the autumn of the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei was elevated to King of Hanzhong. A meteor fell in Chengdu, splitting open to reveal an ancient scroll of black iron inscribed with the words, "The Heavenly Stars and Earthly Fiends shall aid the Han's revival." After studying the stars that night, Kongming sighed, "This is an omen that the Marquis of Wu will mend the heavens and the Five Tiger Generals will gain more years of life."

He gathered 108 heroes from Shu, led by the Five Tiger Generals, matching the number of Liangshan's star spirits. Guan Yu wielded his Green Dragon Crescent Blade and led the thirty-six Heavenly Stars. Zhang Fei commanded the Eighteen Riders of Yan Yun and held the seventy-two Earthly Fiends in check. Zhao Yun charged in and out seven times, breaking Cao Wei's Eight Trigrams formation. Ma Chao's iron cavalry from Liangzhou crushed Yongzhou and Liangzhou, while Huang Zhong shot Xiahou Yuan dead from a hundred paces at Mount Dingjun.

Jiang Wei received the "Heavenly Book of Repeating Crossbows" from the Mysterious Maiden of the Nine Heavens and upgraded Zhuge Liang's repeating crossbow into the "Pear Blossoms in a Rainstorm Formation," which loosed a thousand arrows at once. Wei Yan proposed a brilliant plan to march through the Ziwu Valley, while Wang Ping led the Flying Army of the Wudang Mountains up sheer cliffs to launch a surprise attack on Chang'an. Fa Zheng laid ten ambushes to trap Sima Yi south of the Wei River, and Pang Tong used the east wind to burn the grain stores at Xuchang.

In three years, the Shu army captured Longyou, Guanzhong, and Luoyang in succession. Zhuge Liang's six campaigns against Mount Qishan became the "Seven-Star Chain Formation," and he raised a star altar in every city he conquered to gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. In the final battle at Ye City, Guan Xing and Zhang Bao joined their spears to kill Cao Pi beneath the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, and Liu Shan personally accepted the surrender with the imperial jade seal in hand.

Thus Shu Han brought the realm under its rule. All 108 heroes were ennobled and appointed as ministers, and golden statues were raised in the Wuhou Shrine in Chengdu, where they would receive offerings forever. Later generations would say, "Without the aid of the Heavenly Stars and Earthly Fiends, how could the Han flame have reclaimed the land?"