《仙苑編珠》

The first volume of String of Pearls from the Immortal Garden records cosmological origins and Daoist creation myths. The opening passages cite descriptions of the Dao from the Daode Jing and Zhuangzi: Before heaven and earth took form, there existed an undifferentiated wholeness—serene and empty yet eternally unchanging, ceaselessly cycling yet never exhausting itself, serving as the source from which all things emerge. This existence has no specific name, though we reluctantly call it the Dao (the Way). Zhuangzi further explains that although the Dao is formless and engages in wuwei (non-action), it can manifest spirits and deities, create heaven and earth. Transcending the constraints of time and space, it neither dwells above the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) nor below the six extremes, more ancient than heaven and earth yet never aging.

The text then recounts the myth of Pangu separating heaven and earth: In the beginning, when the cosmos was still undivided, it resembled a chaotic egg, within which Pangu the Perfected (also known as the Primordial Heavenly King) gestated as the essence of heaven and earth. He resided on Mount Jade Capital, the cosmic center shaped like a great canopy, cultivating himself by breathing celestial qi (vital energy) and drinking from subterranean springs. Later, the Jade Woman of Supreme Mystery (also called the Primordial Holy Mother) suddenly appeared on the mountain, possessing peerless beauty. The Primordial Heavenly King brought her to his upper palace, where they practiced cultivation together.

After countless ages, the Primordial Heavenly King and the Primordial Holy Mother gave birth to the Heavenly Sovereign (also known as the Eastern King Father), who governed the world for thirty-six thousand years and resided in the Fusang Palace of the east. They also gave birth to the Mysterious Woman of Ninefold Radiance (also called the Queen Mother of the West), who dwelled on Mount Kunlun in the west. These two were revered as the supreme deities between heaven and earth, and the Eastern King Father’s residence in the eastern palace became a symbolic precedent for the later dwellings of imperial crown princes.

Finally, the text recounts the enlightenment of the cultural progenitors Fuxi and the Yellow Emperor: Fuxi, inspired by the divine turtle bearing the river chart, created the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) and devised writing. After attaining the Dao, he became the Green Emperor of the East. The Yellow Emperor, upon achieving the Dao, ascended to heaven on a cloud. These accounts integrate ancient sage-kings into the Daoist pantheon, illustrating how they attained divine status through cultivation of the Dao.

According to the Immortal Garden String of Pearls, when the Yellow Emperor (Xuanyuan) ascended Mount Emei, he encountered an immortal named Celestial Sovereign of Primordial Truth. This immortal transmitted to him the "Numinous Treasure Five Talismans" (Lingbao Wufu, a type of Daoist ritual charm), which the Yellow Emperor used to govern the world for three hundred years. Later, he cast a great cauldron at Mount Jingshan to refine elixirs. When the elixir was completed, a yellow dragon descended from heaven to receive him, and seventy-two of his ministers ascended with him. The Yellow Emperor concealed the Numinous Treasure Five Talismans at Mount Yuanwei.

Zhuanxu (Gaoyang) traveled the four directions in the "Chariot of Knotted Primordiality" (a celestial vehicle), journeying from the northern Youling to the southern Jiaozhi, westward to the Flowing Sands, and eastward to the Coiling Tree. Wherever he went, the spirits of mountains and rivers, the birds and beasts, even the places touched by the sun and moon, all submitted to him. Applying the principles of the Eight Trigrams (Bagua), he summoned the deities of the four seas at Mount Dongtai and the Yin Palace Mound, sealing and suppressing them with jade from the Heavenly Market Mountain of the Anxi Kingdom. He also commanded the casting of precious tripods from the copper of Mount Yu, placing them in cavernous mountains. Zhuangzi states that after attaining the Dao, Zhuanxu resided in the Mysterious Palace. Emperor Ku (Gaoxin) received a revelation from the Ninefold Celestial Sovereign and the Threefold Celestial Emperor, who descended in a nine-dragon cloud chariot to the Terrace of Pastoral Virtue, likewise bestowing upon him the Numinous Treasure Five Talismans. After attaining the Dao through these talismans, Emperor Ku sealed them within Mount Zhong.

Emperor Shun received the "Tenfold Purple Blossom" (Shizhuan Zihua, an immortal elixir) as tribute from the Northern Rong's Great King of Long Beards. Upon consuming it, he achieved immortality. When Yu the Great controlled the floods, following the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Scripture, he discovered golden slips and jade texts at Mount Yuanwei (also known as Mount Kuaiji’s Yu Cave) in the southeast. In a dream, a man dressed in crimson embroidered robes told him: "To obtain the method for flood control, seek beneath the steep cliffs where the Yellow Emperor once stood." After fasting in purification, Yu indeed found the golden slips and jade texts in the mountain. Using the methods recorded within, he cut through Dragon Gate and dredged the hundred rivers, ultimately succeeding in flood control. The Numinous Treasure Five Talismans circulating in Daoist traditions today originate from this very text.

Finally, the text mentions Laozi (Lord Lao) and Pengzu (Jianzu), both emblematic figures of Daoist immortality. Pengzu was renowned for his longevity, said to have lived eight hundred years, while Laozi, revered as the progenitor of Daoism, attained the state of the "Limitless" (Wuji).

Confucius once humbly remarked that he still fell short when compared to "Lao Peng" (Pengzu). The Daoist master Ge Xuan described Laozi in this manner: His existence was in complete harmony with nature, predating even the "Great Non-Being" (Taiwu, the primordial chaos before cosmic formation). His origins were untraceable. Laozi witnessed the birth and dissolution of heaven and earth—a state of being beyond description, without end or boundary, reaching the realm of the "Limitless" (Wuji). While the world believed Laozi to be a figure from the Zhou dynasty, the name "Laozi" had existed countless kalpas (a Buddhist term denoting an immeasurably long epoch) earlier, its antiquity surpassing all imagination.

Commentaries on Zhuangzi note that Pengzu's original name was Jian Keng, a great-great-grandson of Emperor Zhuanxu, renowned for his mastery of life-nourishing arts. Skilled in culinary arts, he once presented Emperor Yao with a delicious pheasant broth and was enfeoffed in Pengcheng. Because his methods of cultivating life were worthy of emulation, he became known as "Pengzu." Both the Biographies of Immortals (Shenxian Zhuan) and Lives of the Immortals (Liexian Zhuan) record that he lived through the Xia and Shang dynasties, reaching 760 years of age without showing signs of aging. Later, he journeyed westward to the shifting sands, and none knew his final whereabouts. Luo Yin's stele inscription describes him as shining like a star along the banks of the Pu River and soaring like a crane amid the desert sands.

When the Yellow Emperor sought Guangchengzi on Mount Kongtong to inquire about life-nourishing methods, the immortal replied: "The supreme Dao is profound and mysterious. Its essence lies in neither seeing nor hearing external distractions, allowing the spirit-mind (Shen) to settle naturally. Do not exhaust the body, nor disturb the vital essence (Jing) and energy (Qi), and you shall attain longevity. I have practiced thus for twelve hundred years, and my form has never aged." The Origin Chronicles (Benqi Zhuan) and Scripture of Western Ascension (Xisheng Jing) recount how Yin Xi, the Guardian of the Pass, received Laozi's Scripture of the Dao and Its Virtue (Daode Jing)—five thousand words in all—at the Green Goat Market in Shu Commandery. After studying it ten thousand times, he ascended in broad daylight with Laozi, roaming the Four Seas and the celestial realms of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), later manifesting in eighty-one forms to guide others toward enlightenment.

During the Qin dynasty, the Yan native Lu Ao traveled to the Northern Sea, where he encountered an immortal named Ruoshi in the Menggu Mountains. Dancing gracefully in the wind, Ruoshi said to Lu Ao: "I have an appointment with the cosmos and cannot linger." With that, he soared away on the clouds. Chisongzi, the Rain Master of Emperor Shennong's era, could traverse flames unharmed after ingesting "water-jade" (an elixir), ascending and descending with wind and rain. Even during Emperor Gaoxin's reign, his miraculous appearances continued. As for Ning Fengzi, legends tell of his ability to ride smoke and flames into the heavens, leaving behind tales of "following the mist."

The Rain Master (a deity governing rainfall), also known as Ning Fengzi, once served as the Pottery Official under the Yellow Emperor. A mysterious figure who could emit five-colored smoke taught Fengzi, who subsequently piled firewood upon himself and ascended to immortality amidst the rising smoke.

Huangshan Jun cultivated the longevity techniques of Pengzu (the legendary immortal who lived eight hundred years), maintaining youthful appearance for centuries. Master Baishi, disciple of the Zhonghuang Grand Physician (a high-ranking Daoist immortal title), had already lived three thousand years by Pengzu's era. He earned his name by cooking white stones for sustenance on Mount Baishi.

King Mu of Zhou rode his eight divine steeds ten thousand li daily to reach Mount Kunlun, where he feasted with the Queen Mother of the West at the Jasper Pool. The Queen Mother sang the "White Cloud Ballad," which the king answered in verse. The herb-gatherer Wo Quan of Mount Huai subsisted on pine nuts, growing inches-long body hair and developing square pupils that enabled him to outpace galloping horses.

Huangdi's horse physician Ma Shihuang once healed a sick dragon by needling its lower lip and administering licorice decoction. Thereafter, dragons regularly emerged from ponds seeking his treatment until he eventually ascended astride one. The Song fisherman Kou Xian alternated between selling and releasing his catches while subsisting on fig flower fruits. When Duke Jing of Song demanded his secrets and was refused, he had Kou executed—yet years later, witnesses saw the fisherman playing his zither at the city gates before ascending.

During Duke Mu of Qin's reign, the flutist Xiao Shi could summon peacocks and white cranes with his melodies. The duke's daughter Nongyu fell in love with and married him. Xiao taught her phoenix-like tones that drew actual phoenixes to perch. Eventually, the couple ascended riding these celestial birds.

Shen Wentai of Jiuyi Mountain obtained the Red Spring Divine Elixir and rejuvenation techniques, practicing for two millennia on Kunlun before transmitting them to Li Wenyuan. They pioneered the Yellow-and-White Alchemy (Waidan techniques) by boiling yellow elixir with bamboo root juice, while developing methods to expel the Three Corpses (malevolent spirits believed to reside in the human body). Song Lun mastered aerial flight, whereas Ge Hong (the renowned Jin dynasty Daoist) focused on seated meditation practices.

The Louguan school of Daoism records that Song Lun, styled Dexuan, at the age of twenty-two would recite five thousand characters of scripture daily while cultivating himself with medicinal herbs like Solomon's Seal (Huangjing) and White Atractylodes (Baizhu). Later, the Supreme Elder Lord (Taishang Laojun) descended to impart to him the "Way of Central Radiance" (Zhongjing zhi Dao) and the Scripture of Communicating with the Authentic (Tongzhen Jing). After achieving mastery in cultivation, Song Lun could walk freely along cliff faces, covering three thousand li in a day, traversing waves and scaling mountains without needing ferry crossings or paths.

The Biographies of Daoist Masters (Daoxue Zhuan) documents that Ge Hong (styled Zhichuan), having read ten thousand volumes, accepted the magistracy of Goulou County solely to obtain ingredients for alchemical preparations. His prolific writings included 116 chapters of Inner and Outer Treatises (Neipian/Waipian), hundreds of scrolls of stele inscriptions, poetry, and political discourses, along with works like Biographies of Divine Immortals (Shenxian Zhuan) and Accounts of Virtuous Officials (Liangli Zhuan). Most significantly, he compiled the hundred-scroll Golden Cabinet Medical Formulas (Jinkui Yaofang) and the four-scroll Emergency Formulas to Keep at Hand (Zhouhou Beiji Fang), ancient medical texts. At eighty-one, he achieved feathered ascension as if falling into eternal sleep.

Zheng Siyuan (Ge Hong's teacher) once nurtured two tiger cubs orphaned in the mountains. When their sire later appeared, all three tigers followed him, carrying medicinal herbs and scriptures until their collective ascension at Mount Kuocang. The Arrayed Immortals Tradition (Liexian Zhuan) recounts how Master Juan of Qi, after three centuries of consuming White Atractylodes, caught a carp containing mystical talismans (Fulu) in its belly while fishing at Lotus Marsh, thereby gaining power to summon clouds and rain.

Lou Shaoxi cultivated for twenty years at Western Peak of Mount Hua before finally encountering an immortal and attaining the Dao. During the Spring and Autumn period, Song Lai, a market official from Chu who diligently swept the streets for years, met an immortal disguised as a beggar and after thirteen years of discipleship became an immortal of Central Peak.

Chen Yongbo obtained the formula for "Seven Stars Powder" (Qixing San) and achieved feathered ascension after twenty-eight days of ingestion—even an eleven-year-old child who took it likewise became immortal. Wang Yao, styled Boliao, healed illnesses without medicine, curing patients simply by having them sit on his cloth kerchief.

First Passage:

There was a small bamboo box, only a few inches long. One night during heavy rain, a disciple named Qian was instructed by his master to carry this box on a nine-section bamboo staff while walking in the rain—yet his clothes remained completely dry. They ascended a mountain and entered a stone chamber, where two men were seated. The master opened the box and took out three jade-tongue reeds (a type of musical instrument). The three played them together for a long time before returning the reeds to the box and carrying it back. The two men said to the master, "Return soon—do not linger too long in the mortal world." Over a hundred days later, the master left alone with the box and never returned. Thirty years later, the disciple saw him again at Mati Mountain.

Second Passage:

Jie Xiang (courtesy name Yuanze), a native of Kuaiji, was skilled in Daoist arts and highly revered by Emperor Taidi of Wu. Jie could perform magic, making fruits and melons grow and ripen instantly for consumption. Once, the emperor craved mullet sashimi, so Jie dug a small pond in front of the palace and cast a line, catching fish from it. When the emperor mentioned the scarcity of ginger from Shu, Jie had a man carry five hundred coins and inscribed a talisman (fulu) on a bamboo staff, instructing him to close his eyes and ride the staff. The man heard only the howling wind and arrived in Shu in moments, returning with ginger before the chef had even finished slicing the fish.

Zuo Ci (courtesy name Yuanfang) also possessed Daoist arts. When Sun Ce tried to kill him, he forced Zuo to walk ahead. Wearing wooden shoes and leaning on a bamboo staff, Zuo moved slowly, yet Sun, galloping on horseback, remained a hundred paces behind. Later, when Cao Cao attempted to execute him, only a bundle of straw was found in his place.

Third Passage:

During Emperor Wu of Han’s eastern tour, he encountered an old man at the foot of Mount Tai with a white light several feet high above his head. The old man explained that at eighty-five, he had grown frail until a Daoist taught him to abstain from grains, consume atractylodes (a medicinal herb), drink water for nourishment, and craft a "Divine Pillow" using thirty-two herbs. Now, at one hundred and eighty, he could walk three hundred li in a day.

When Emperor Wu met Shan Zidu, the man’s head was crowned with purple qi over ten feet high. Shan claimed to be one hundred and thirty-eight years old, having cultivated Peng Zu’s longevity methods. Though the emperor wished to learn, he lacked the perseverance. Shan lived past two hundred before ascending to immortality in broad daylight after consuming atractylodes.

Fourth Passage:

Ge Xuangong (Ge Xuan, a Daoist of the Three Kingdoms period) mentioned that the name of He Shang Gong (a reclusive master) was unknown. Emperor Wen of Han once sought the true meaning of the Daode Jing from him. Though the emperor grasped the essentials, he failed to achieve mastery.

During the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, there lived a hermit by the Yellow River who built a thatched cottage and devoted himself to studying the Laozi (Daode Jing). Emperor Wen, though fond of the Dao De Jing, found certain passages perplexing. When his envoys sought explanations from the hermit, they received no reply. The emperor personally visited and challenged him: "All under heaven is my domain, and every person my subject. Though you possess Daoist arts, you remain my subject—how dare you show such arrogance? I hold power to elevate men to wealth or reduce them to poverty in an instant." At this, Master He Shang (a legendary immortal) suddenly clapped his hands, leaped up, and ascended dozens of zhang into the air before responding: "Above, I don't touch heaven; between, I connect to no man; below, I touch not earth—how then am I your subject? How could Your Majesty presume to dictate my poverty or wealth?" The emperor immediately kowtowed in apology, whereupon Master He Shang bestowed upon him two scrolls of commentary on the Dao De Jing.

The Biographies of Divine Immortals (Shenxian Zhuan) records: Lou Zheng practiced the Five Phases (Wuxing) arts of Mozi (the Warring States philosopher), consuming Vermilion Immortal Pills to live over 800 years while maintaining a childlike countenance. He could divide his form—transforming one person into a hundred, or a hundred into a thousand—summon wind and rain, walk on water, make fish and turtles emerge onto land, exhale five-colored clouds spanning ten li, and soar through the skies. Mozi (originally named Mo Di) had been a high official of Song state, author of the Mozi text and master of defensive warfare. His famous mechanical engineering contest with Gongshu Ban prevented Chu's invasion of Song. Later retreating to Mount Di for spiritual cultivation, he received the Vermilion Immortal Pills and twenty-five scrolls of Five Phases transformation secrets from divine beings, ultimately disappearing during travels among the Five Sacred Mountains.

The same text describes Sun Bo's mastery of Mozi's Five Phases arts—igniting inextinguishable flames in plants, metals, and stones that only he could extinguish; leading hundreds to walk dry across water; passing through solid rock before achieving immortality through alchemy at Mount Linlu. The female immortal Ban Meng could fly through air, penetrate earth, send roof tiles swirling with a wave, summon wells by pointing, and spray ink from her mouth to form written characters on paper.

Wang Gang, a Daoist practitioner, mastered the art of nurturing the body and was particularly skilled in the Xuan-Su techniques (ancient sexual cultivation methods for longevity). At the age of 180, his face remained as youthful as a maiden's. Later, he consumed Pearl Immortal Wine and ascended to the celestial realm of Xuanzhou. His disciple, Zhang Zhen (Prince Zhang), studied under Master Sang and became well-versed in the theory of the Five Phases (Wuxing), using it to regulate his body and mind, cure illnesses, and avert disasters. Zhang Zhen could summon wind and rain, transform grass and tiles into livestock, dragons, and tigers, and even split himself into hundreds of replicas. He could walk on rivers and seas, turn water into pearls and jade, mold clay pellets into horses that traveled a thousand miles a day, exhale multicolored clouds, summon fish and turtles with talismans (Fulu), enable people to see scenes thousands of miles away, and instantly heal ailments with incantations. Ultimately, he refined an elixir at Mount Kongtong and ascended in broad daylight.

Jiulingzi (surname Huang, given name Hua) mastered the fetal breathing technique (a form of breath cultivation for rejuvenation) and the essence of the Five Phases (Wuxing). He could evade harm from weapons, make tigers and wolves bow before him, and dispel all kinds of calamities. He devoted himself to this practice for 500 years before consuming an elixir and achieving immortality. Beijizi (surname Yin, given name Heng) focused on preserving his spirit (Shen) and treasuring his vital energy (Qi). His key principle was: "Refining metal with metal is the true Dao; measuring human nature with human nature is divine power." He, too, ascended after ingesting an immortal elixir.

Taiyangzi (surname Li, given name Ming) studied under Master Yu. Though he was often drunk due to his fondness for wine, he explained that this was to dissolve his own arrogance through alcohol. Proficient in the ways of the Five Phases (Wuxing), he lived for 500 years in the mortal world, his hair turning completely white while his skin remained radiant. Eventually, he consumed an elixir and became immortal. Juedongzi (surname Li, given name Xiu) advocated that "softness overcomes hardness, and the Yin can encompass the Yang." He maintained a cautious attitude as if standing on the edge of an abyss, living to 400 years without aging in appearance. After leaving behind 30 written works, he consumed the Returned Elixir and ascended.

Taiyangnü (surname Zhu, given name Yi) also mastered the cultivation methods of the Five Phases (Wuxing) and achieved extraordinary accomplishments like her male counterparts. These records demonstrate that regardless of gender, anyone who grasps the correct methods can cultivate and attain immortality.

This passage recounts several extraordinary tales of ancient Daoist practitioners achieving immortality:

Lu Jin (also known as Taiyin Nü, the Lunar Maiden) originally worked at a winery until she met the immortal Taiyangzi (Solar Master), who taught her alchemical and longevity techniques. After consuming the elixir, she maintained eternal youth—appearing as a maiden of seventeen or eighteen even at 280 years old—before finally ascending to immortality.

Taiyuan Nü (Zhuan He) turned to Daoist cultivation after being widowed young. She mastered the "Jade Master Technique" (a form of shape-shifting magic), conjuring food from thin air and displaying myriad transformations. Nanjizi (Liu Rong) performed even more marvelous feats: transforming powder into eggs, chanting incantations to turn cups into tortoise shells, and transmuting water into fine wine. He ultimately attained immortality by ingesting the "Cloud-Frost Elixir."

Lou Fenglin practiced on Mount Song for four centuries, cultivating the ability to suspend breathing for three days while sustaining himself solely on goldenthread rhizomes to achieve longevity. The three Zhou brothers devoted ninety-seven years to cultivation in the Chang Mountains, receiving seven authentic scriptures. Only Zhou Jun, through single-minded recitation ten thousand times, achieved ascension—his two younger brothers failed when their distraction by a white deer caused the scriptures to spontaneously combust.

Jiang Bozhen was gathering herbs when an immortal pointed out his "unrighteous heart"—evidenced by his shadow slanting in sunlight. The immortal taught him to face the rising sun daily in meditation, cultivating warmth in his heart to correct this. Xu Jidao received instruction to chant celestial calendars while gazing at the azure heavens and practice with feet positioned in specific orientations.

The final account describes Liu An, Prince of Huainan, whose reverence for adepts moved eight immortals to descend. Each possessed unique powers: some commanded wind and rain, others subdued wild beasts, while certain masters could split their forms. Notably, one immortal simultaneously manifested in both seated and standing postures, demonstrating the art of bilocation.

(Note: The "Jade Master Technique" refers to transformative magic; "Cloud-Frost Elixir" and "goldenthread" are Daoist alchemical substances; "celestial calendars" denote cultivation methods related to astronomical systems.)

This passage records the miraculous deeds of several ancient Daoist practitioners:

The first section describes five supernatural abilities attained through mastery of the Dao (the Way): walking on air and crossing seas by treading waves; entering fire unharmed and emerging from water dry; transforming at will into countless forms; avoiding calamities while extending lifespan to achieve immortality; and turning stone to gold or mercury to silver.

Ding Lingwei entered the mountains to cultivate the Dao at age seven. After a millennium of practice, he returned to his hometown transformed into a celestial crane, perching on an ornamental pillar while singing: "I am Ding Lingwei of old, returning today after millennia of Dao cultivation." Su Dan from Binzhou saw his ox transform into a white deer while herding cattle as a boy. After attaining the Dao, he returned to live on Niupi Mountain. When local officials visited him at dusk, he unfurled the Huangting Jing (Scripture of the Yellow Court) to form a bridge spanning the city gate, allowing their return passage.

The Immortal of Dazu achieved transcendence by consuming rehmannia root, while Tang Feng attained the Dao through ingesting Zhongyue stone honey. Mo Ronggong became immortal by taking coptis root, and Xianmenzi achieved transcendence with a chrysanthemum elixir. The Three Elders of Changling mastered the art of refining Yin elixirs and cultivating Qi (vital energy), while the Four Hermits of Shang Mountain attained immortality by consuming a nine-herb powder with lacquer.

The female Daoist Qian Miaozhen practiced cultivation from childhood at Mount Juqudong. At age eighty-three, after completing recitations of the Huangting Jing, she bid farewell to loved ones, ingested a yellow-white elixir, and entered Swallow Cave. The next day, fellow practitioners heard thunder from the cave and witnessed a dragon-phoenix chariot arriving from the northwest to escort her ascension. Ji Huiyan cultivated the Dao at Mount Tianmu and was buried conventionally after death. Years later, villagers heard a tremendous noise and saw coffin planks flying skyward: the top plank landed at South Village (modern Shangpian Village), the base at North Village (modern Xiaban Village), while side planks descended together (modern Pantong Village) - thus completing his celestial ascent.

Finally mentioned are Zhu Huang, who attained the Dao through encountering immortal herbs, and Nü Wan, who achieved transcendence by secretly acquiring arcane techniques.

The Immortal Garden String of Pearls records several extraordinary individuals who attained immortality through the Dao:

Zhu Huang of Guangyang originally suffered from severe illness and dementia. Daoist priest Ruan Qiu gave him seven medicinal substances, instructing him to take nine pills daily. This cured all his ailments, after which Ruan taught him to recite the Huangting Jing (Yellow Court Scripture, an important Daoist classic). Zhu Huang later followed Ruan Qiu into Fuyang Mountain for cultivation. At eighty years old, his hair and beard remained jet black, until he eventually ascended as an immortal. Nü Wan was a tavern keeper in the marketplace. When an immortal passed by and left five volumes of plain texts with her, she secretly copied their contents, mastering longevity techniques that preserved her youthful appearance. She later abandoned her household and disappeared without trace.

Changsheng possessed the supernatural ability to stop rain. This remarkable figure who died and revived multiple times resided in Gucheng Village. During a sudden flood endangering villagers, he climbed Quemen Mountain shouting "Changsheng is here!" and predicted the rain would cease within five days - which it did. Decades later, he reappeared as a gatekeeper at Huayin. Fang Hui was a recluse from Emperor Yao's era who ingested mica for cultivation. During the late Xia dynasty while serving as a palace official, bandits imprisoned him, yet he transformed to escape and sealed their door with the "Fang Hui Seal." Contemporary accounts claimed his sealing clay could open any lock.

Qiusheng, the forestry official during King Tang's reign of Shang dynasty, consumed pine resin for longevity and built a stone chamber for cultivation until achieving immortality. King Wu of Zhou personally visited his former residence to make offerings. Hu Zixian, a diviner who lived over a century, received a nighttime visit from an immortal bearing bamboo poles. He and an elderly tavern woman each rode one (actually transformed dragons) to ascend Huayin Mountain.

Zhu Zhong, a jewelry merchant from Kuaiji, presented Empress Lü with a three-inch pearl worth five hundred gold pieces, later receiving seven hundred more from Princess Luyuan privately. He subsequently offered a four-inch pearl, then disappeared after presenting dozens of three-inch pearls during Emperor Jing of Han's reign. Ren Guang of Shangcai specialized in crafting elixirs for urban sale. Zhao Jianzi invited him to Baiti Mountain, after which three generations lost track of him.

Shangqiu Zixu delighted in pig-rearing and flute-playing while consuming atractylodes and calamus. Sustained solely by water, he neither hungered nor aged - witnesses attested to his three-century lifespan. Tao Angong, a Six-An County metalworker, suddenly encountered mystical flames...

The Garden of Immortals records several accounts of attaining immortality and realizing the Dao:

The story of Master An tells of an immortal riding a vermilion sparrow who descended to a smelting site, informing An: "You have established connection with the celestial realm. On the seventh day of the seventh month, a crimson dragon will come for you." When the day arrived, torrential rain fell as predicted, and the crimson dragon appeared. An mounted its back and ascended to immortality.

Huang Daozhen, along with Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao, were ordinary mortals who accidentally entered the Peach Blossom Grotto and encountered immortals. Huang, a fisherman from Wuling, rowed his boat into the grotto by chance. Liu and Ruan, herbalists from Shanyin County, lost their way while gathering herbs on Mount Tianmu and spent six months with the grotto immortals. Upon returning home, they discovered seven generations had passed in the human world.

Huang Chuping was shepherding at fifteen when he met a Daoist who took him to Mount Jinhua for forty years of cultivation. When his elder brother Chuqi eventually found him, Chuping transformed white stones on the mountain into a flock of sheep. The brothers consumed pine resin and poria cocos (two commonly used Daoist alchemical substances) together, ultimately achieving joint ascension. Chuping later changed his surname to Chi, taking the Daoist name Songzi (Pine Master), while Chuqi became known as Chixuzi (Master of Red Whiskers).

Feng Gang mastered medicinal preparation by steeping hundreds of flowers in sealed containers for a hundred days to create pills capable of reviving the dead. Through prolonged consumption of these elixirs, he attained longevity and eventually immortality.

Lü Gong encountered three immortals while gathering herbs on Mount Taihang. A fellow immortal surnamed Lü guided him in cultivation techniques. Though only two days passed in the immortal realm, two centuries elapsed in the mortal world. Returning home to meet descendants over ten generations later, he transmitted the immortal formulas to his lineage, enabling his entire family to ascend.

Shen Jian excelled in daoyin (Daoist gymnastic practices) and ingestion techniques, using medicinal pills to cure diseases. During extended journeys, he administered special pills enabling servants to fast for three years without hunger. Upon return, antidote pills restored normal eating. Shen himself achieved unconstrained flight and lived three hundred years before disappearing without trace.

Hua Ziqi studied under Master Luli (an ancient immortal) and obtained the secret elixir formulas of the Lingbao tradition. After taking the prescribed medicine, he could walk five hundred li daily and lift weights of a thousand jin. Each year he would shed his skin ten times, eventually ascending to immortality. Le Zichang of Qi encountered the Huolin Immortal who transmitted to him the "Giant Victory Cinnabar Powder" formula - said to transform snakes into dragons and restore youth to humans. After prolonged use, Le lived to 180 while maintaining youthful beauty like a maiden. His nine wives and concubines who also took the medicine found the aged rejuvenated and the young preserved from aging, until the entire household ascended from Laosheng Mountain.

Wei Shuqing refused official service, while Wei Boyang feigned death. Zhongshan native Wei Shuqing attained immortality by consuming mica. Emperor Wu of Han once saw him suddenly descend before the palace hall riding white clouds astride a white deer. When the emperor asked his identity, he replied: "I am Wei Shuqing of Zhongshan." The emperor said: "Are you not my subject?" Receiving no answer as Wei abruptly vanished, the emperor deeply regretted his words. Wei Boyang of Wu took three disciples and a white dog into mountains to refine elixirs. After completion, he first fed the dog - which died; then took it himself and pretended to die; disciple Yu followed by consuming the "fatal" elixir. The remaining two abandoned the endeavor and descended the mountain. Wei immediately revived, ascending with his loyal disciple and resurrected dog. He entrusted a woodcutter with letters for his hometown, specifically composing two volumes of the Zhouyi Cantongqi (The Kinship of the Three) detailing alchemical secrets for the departed disciples.

Dongfang Shuo descended from the Year Star (Jupiter), while Fu Yue transformed into the Winnowing Basket and Tail stars after death. According to Secret Records of Ascended Immortals, Dongfang Shuo (courtesy name Manqian) served under Emperor Wu of Han after taking the "Primordial Spirit Pills." By Emperor Xuan's reign he resigned to sell medicines in Kuaiji, ultimately returning to his celestial abode. The Zhuangzi records how Fu Yue assisted King Wuding in governing the realm, his spirit after death riding the Winnowing Basket and Tail constellations to become one with the stars.

Shen Xi rode three celestial chariots, while Anqi Sheng met two immortal youths. Wu commandery native Shen Xi studied Daoism in Shu, excelling in dispelling calamities and healing illnesses - his virtuous deeds moved heaven. Once while riding with his wife, they suddenly encountered white deer, azure dragon, and white tiger chariots. Scarlet-robed celestial officials bearing jade tablets and weapons declared: "Your merit in aiding the world has moved the Yellow Emperor and Laozi to send us for your escort." The three immortals formally announced his ascension.

Fu Xi (one of the Three Sovereigns of antiquity) later ascended to heaven riding a dragon. There was a man named Chen Anshi, originally a retainer in the household of Guan Shuben. Whenever he went out, even birds and beasts would voluntarily make way for him, because he never harmed living creatures. At the age of thirteen, Guan Shuben suddenly developed an interest in cultivating the Dao.

One day, two immortals came to visit Guan Shuben disguised as scholars, but he failed to recognize them and provided poor hospitality. The immortals then said to Chen Anshi: "Your heart inclines toward the Dao, so we can teach you." They gave him two immortal elixirs. After consuming them, Chen Anshi no longer needed food or drink. Later, Guan Shuben in turn became Chen Anshi's disciple. Before ascending as an immortal, Chen Anshi transmitted the Dao methods to Guan Shuben, and eventually both attained immortality and departed.

Another story tells of an immortal in Shu region named Li Babai (so called because people calculated he had lived eight hundred years). Recognizing Tang Gongfang as a worthy successor, Li tested him by pretending to have sores. Li claimed the sores needed to be licked to heal. Tang first had two maidservants attempt this without success, then tried himself to no avail, and finally had his wife try. At this point, Li demanded a bath with three hu measures of fine wine, after which his skin became smooth as congealed cream. He then had Tang, his wife, and three maidservants bathe in wine together, making them all youthful as children. Only then did Li Babai transmit alchemical scriptures to Tang Gongfang, who later achieved immortality through elixirs.

There was also an immortal named Li A who appeared generation after generation in Shu without aging. He often begged for food in the marketplace. A youth named Gu Qiang began following him at eighteen, when Li A appeared about fifty. By the time Gu reached his eighties, Li A's appearance remained unchanged. One day Li A suddenly announced: "Kunlun Mountain summons me—it's time to depart." He was never seen again.

The Immortal Garden String of Pearls records miraculous deeds of several Daoist immortals who attained the Dao:

Du Zi (Immortal's name), a native of Yecheng, consumed pine nuts and poria cocos (fuling) for years, living over a century. His appearance fluctuated unpredictably—sometimes youthful, sometimes aged; now handsome, now unsightly. Once he transformed into a yellow ox to buy wine at a tavern. The daughter of the Yangdu household took a liking to him and followed him to pick peaches and plums, discovering the fruits were extraordinarily sweet. When locals tried pursuing him, they couldn't catch up to the long-eared ox galloping away. Decades later, people still saw him selling peaches and plums beneath Mount Pan. Gui Fu (Immortal's name) from Xianglin had skin that changed colors. He often blended cinnamon branches (guizhi), leaves (guiye), and turtle brains into medicinal pills. Later he ascended to heaven riding clouds, and legends of "Gui Pills" still circulate in southern Jingzhou.

Wu Guang (Immortal's name), a Xia dynasty figure, had seven-inch-long ears, loved playing the qin, and frequently drank soup boiled from cattail and leek roots. Refusing to rule the world, he drowned himself clutching a stone, only to reappear four centuries later during King Wuding's reign. Ruan Qiu (Immortal's name), a Daoist from Qushan, wore his hair loose with elongated ears. Though toothless, he could travel 400 li daily, secretly cultivating chives and shallots in seclusion for over a century.

Chi Fu (Immortal's name) of Barong served as registrar at the Azure Rooster Temple while consuming elixirs (dan) for thirty years until he rejuvenated, growing red hair and developing crimson axe patterns on his palms. Mao Nü Yu Jiang of Mount Hua, formerly a Qin palace maid, fled into the mountains where a Daoist instructed her to eat pine needles—thereafter feeling neither hunger nor cold, her body sprouting green fur.

Wang Ziqiao (also called Wang Qiao) mastered the sheng mouth organ before Daoist Fu Qiu Gong guided him to Mount Song for cultivation. Three decades later, he ascended astride a white crane, later venerated as Tongbo Zhenren governing the Five Sacred Mountains. Lingyang Ziming loved fishing until catching a white fish containing immortal scriptures in its belly. After three years of following the prescriptions, dragons carried him aloft to Mount Huang.

These tales—including an old riverside melon farmer and Qi Ming (Immortal's name) taming geckos (shougong)—illustrate how Daoist practitioners gained longevity and supernatural abilities through herbal consumption (fushi) and cultivation (xiulian). Mentioned ingredients like pine needles, poria cocos, and cinnamon leaves remain staples in Daoist longevity practices.

In the southern commandery, there lived an old farmer dwelling in the mountains. An immortal came to buy melons from him and taught him to preserve the melon seeds with cinnamon bark, aconite, and angelica root, instructing him to consume them at the Spring Equinox. After persisting in this practice for over twenty years, the old farmer gained the ability to fly and even ride dragons.

In Hunting Pavilion, there was a man named Ming. At the age of twenty, he discovered over a thousand dragon hatchlings resembling geckos in a pond. He carefully raised them in a thatched hut. As the dragons grew, they gradually departed. Fifty years later, when a great flood destroyed the hut, he suddenly reappeared in Hunting Pavilion riding one of the dragons.

Sima Jizhu set up a divination stall on the streets of Chang'an. The scholars Song Zhong and Jia Yi once saw him and remarked, "Why does a man like you engage in such a lowly occupation?" He replied, "To be free from hunger and cold within, to have no fear of robbery without, to neither kill above nor harm below—this is the way of a true gentleman. The phoenix does not flock with sparrows—what would you know of such matters?" Later, Song Zhong was convicted of a crime, and Jia Yi died in despair. No one ever learned of Jizhu’s fate afterward. According to the Deng Zhen Yin Jue (Secret Instructions on Ascending to Perfection), he cultivated in the Dayou Palace of Weiyu Mountain, mastered the Xiling sword method, ingested the Bright Elixir, absorbed the morning light, and maintained the appearance of a maiden despite his three-foot-long beard.

Xin Xuanzi loved wandering through mountains and rivers, aspiring to ascend like Prince Qiao and attain the Dao like Lingyang Ziming. Thus, he named himself Xuanzi, with the courtesy name Yanqi. He claimed that the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu) praised his asceticism, while the Sovereign of Northern Feng admired his devotion to the Dao. After two centuries of cultivation, the Celestial Emperor appointed him to govern the Eastern Sea, making him the divine overseer of the Wu and Yue regions. Yet, he had not yet attained the ability to soar through the heavens in immortal robes.

Xu Mai, whose childhood name was Aying, changed his name to signify his resolve to wander far and never return. At twenty, he consulted the diviner Guo Pu, who told him, "Heaven’s decree is auspicious—you are destined for immortality." He then became a disciple of Bao Jing. Later, he traveled with fellow Daoists to famous mountains, consuming atractylodes to practice grain avoidance (bigu) and mastering breath retention for a thousand cycles. He built pavilions in Tonglu and Lin’an, often disappearing into the mountains for months to gather herbs. He often said, "I love the mountains and forests as fish love water." The Zhen Gao (Declarations of the Perfected) records that he studied under Wang Shilong, refining his brain by ingesting jade nectar.

On Mount Bao there lived an accomplished Daoist master known as Elder Longwei, though none knew his original name—people simply called him "The Recluse." King Helü of Wu dispatched envoys to invite him to explore the caverns at Mount Bao's source. After venturing into the caves for 174 days, he returned reporting he had traveled roughly seven thousand li until encountering countless forked paths crisscrossing in identical formations. There stood a resplendent golden city (Wangwu) devoid of inhabitants, its gate inscribed "Separate Palace of the Five Sovereigns." Within a jade hall, he discovered a scroll of crimson bamboo slips. After paying reverent homage, he retrieved it as proof. When presented to the King of Wu, it was revealed to be the Lingbao Five Talismans Scripture once treasured by Yu the Great.

Lady Wei (given name Xian'an) suffered chronic illness in youth. Perfected Lord Wang Qingxu instructed her: "Cultivating the Dao first requires dispelling ailments—strengthening the five viscera, nourishing skin and flesh, enriching marrow, sharpening ears and eyes—only then may practice begin." He thus transmitted to her the formula for Licorice Pills. After taking the medicine, all her ailments vanished, and she later attained the Dao to become the Purple Void Primordial Lady, Supreme Director of Destiny at Southern Peak.

Chu Boyu of Qiantang fled over the wall when his family arranged his marriage at sixteen, hiding for twenty years atop Central Peak of Mount Tiantai. Woodcutters spotted him serenely dwelling in remote caverns with only two bundles of pine bark fragments, earning widespread renown. Though summoned by Emperor Gao of Qi, he refused to leave the mountains, later relocating to Mount Huo where he achieved transcendence.

Ma Mingsheng (original surname He, courtesy name Junxian) of Linzi was wounded by bandits in youth until a celestial being healed him with medicine. After studying under Master Anqi, he wandered the world through hardships until obtaining the Great Clarity Golden Liquid Elixir Scripture. Though successful in alchemical preparations, he chose not to ascend immediately—consuming only half the dose to become an earthbound immortal, roaming the human realm five centuries before daytime ascension.

Ge Yue (sobriquet Huangluzi) possessed miraculous healing arts—patients a thousand li away needed only send their names to be cured. He could immobilize tigers, wolves, and birds, reverse river flow for miles, summon rain-dragons during droughts, lift thousand-jin weights while outrunning galloping horses, with five-colored clouds perpetually crowning him to heights over ten feet. At 280 years old, he mounted a dragon to ascend.

Xiaofu was an ancient cobbler who lived in the market of Beiquzhou. No one knew his true age, as he never seemed to grow old. Many sought to learn his longevity techniques, but he refused to teach them—except for Liang Mu, who mastered the art of fire manipulation from him. Later, Xiaofu ascended Sanliang Mountain to bid farewell to Liang Mu, riding upward on dozens of flaming torches before vanishing into the heavens. Shimen, his disciple, also learned fire control and had a fondness for eating peach and plum blossoms. He once served as the dragon-tamer for Emperor Kongjia of the Xia dynasty, but after being executed and buried by the emperor, his corpse mysteriously disappeared during a storm, and flames spontaneously ignited across the mountain forests.

When Jin Weidao cultivated immortality on Bozhong Mountain for twelve years, an immortal tested him by suspending a massive boulder weighing 100,000 jin above his head. The rock hung by a single white hair, yet Jin remained utterly serene, lying peacefully beneath it for twelve years until he finally obtained the elixir of immortality and ascended. Huang Guanzi devoted himself to Daoist practice from childhood, praying daily for longevity. After forty-nine years, he entered the mountains, where immortals tested him with 140 trials—all of which he passed—before granting him the Golden Elixir (Jindan). He then recited the Dadong Zhenjing (Great Grotto Scripture of Truth) and ascended to the heavens.

Zizhu spoke with a Chu dialect and a shrill voice. When he visited the Prince of Jiangdu, he claimed that Master Ning had predicted his arrival three hundred years earlier. Messengers later found Master Ning on Longmei Mountain—a hairy, large-eared man with disheveled hair playing the qin—who said Zizhu had been his neighbor nine lifetimes ago. Xiaqiu Zhong sold medicine in Ning for over a century. After an earthquake destroyed dozens of homes, he died, and his corpse was thrown into the water while his medicine was stolen. Yet he returned wearing a fur coat to reclaim it, terrifying the thieves into begging for mercy. Xiaqiu Zhong scolded them only for exposing his presence, then left for the northern Hu lands, where he worked as a courier and was revered as a banished immortal (zhexian).

Yinsheng was a beggar beneath the Weiqiao Bridge, often seen pleading for alms in the market. Once, merchants annoyed by him doused him in filth, yet his robes remained spotless. Authorities imprisoned him, but even shackled, he kept reappearing in the marketplace. Later, the houses of those who had harassed him suddenly collapsed, and only then did people realize he was no ordinary man.

These are several marvelous tales about Daoist practitioners:

The first story takes place in a Liang Kingdom marketplace. A winemaker brewed exceptionally fine wine, earning thousands daily. Later he pretended to make a mistake and was dismissed, after which the shop's wine turned sour. This winemaker would appear and disappear mysteriously, living over a hundred years before returning to serve as a Liang official teaching villagers vegetable farming. He predicted a famine in three years which came true, then suddenly resigned and vanished.

The second story recounts two woodcutters' encounters. Wang Zhi of Xi'an was chopping wood when he saw two immortals playing chess beneath a stone bridge. Setting his axe aside to watch, he found its handle rotted when he rose after the game, returning home to discover centuries had passed. Today's Lanke Mountain (Rotten Axe Handle Mountain) in Quzhou derives its name from this. Another man, Xu Gong of Jinhua, met Daoist priests drinking in the mountains - after one cup he fell drunk, awakening by a lakeside to find generations had passed at home.

The third tale concerns Shang Qiu Kai of the Jin Dynasty. Practicing Daoism since youth in the Gushan Mountains, he could traverse fire and water unharmed, once rescuing shipwreck victims and extinguishing flames by spouting water. Though skilled at painting, he remained poor, enduring bullying while serving the Fan family. When their estate caught fire, only he dashed through flames retrieving belongings unscathed, then quenched the blaze with sprayed water - revealing his celestial nature.

Lastly, during Emperor Wu of Han's reign, astronomers noticed Taiyi Star had vanished. Dongfang Shuo explained this signaled the star descending to bless humanity, advising an altar by the southeastern riverbank. Indeed a transcendent arrived by crane-drawn boat, prompting the emperor to build an altar for celestial thanksgiving.

This passage records several miraculous accounts of Daoist immortals:

The governor of Kuaiji Prefecture reported an extraordinary sighting at sea—a figure with antler-like horns on his head, jade-like complexion, beautiful beard, wearing nothing but oak leaves around his waist, reclining on a crimson lotus leaf over ten feet long. Holding a yellow book, he drifted from the northeast. When officials burned incense and knelt in reverence, sudden clouds obscured their vision. After the mist dispersed, the immortal had vanished, leaving only the yellow book floating ashore. Remarkably, the pages showed no water damage, bearing luminous celestial script ("Tianzhuan"—esoteric Daoist writing) unrecognizable to mortals. Emperor Wu of Han ordered Dongfang Shuo to examine it, who identified it as the heavenly Fire Pearl Scripture, also known as Linked Pearls Scripture.

Next is the story of Li Zhongfu. A native of Fengyi’s Zhongyang, he studied Daoism under Wang Jun of Hongnong, mastering the arts of consuming cassia (an elixir), Dunjia invisibility, and the Step of the Dipper (Daoist ritual footwork). Living over a century, he could converse while invisible before retiring to Mount Hua (Western Peak). Another figure, Guizi, served as Xuzhou’s governor until contracting leprosy for over a decade. After meeting Daoist Yu Jun, he resigned to tend horses for three years, receiving an elixir and Daoist texts. Upon ingestion, he not only recovered but lived to 190 with youthful features, eventually cultivating at Mount Hua.

Lastly, the legend of Wang Fangping (courtesy name Yuan). After practicing cultivation for thirty years at Grand Commandant Chen Dan’s home, he achieved "cicada-shedding" (a form of Daoist liberation where the immortal leaves behind a corpse). A decade later, on the seventh day of the seventh month, he returned to Cai Jing’s household with a celestial entourage in cloud-borne chariots. The feast featured golden plates and jade cups filled with exotic fruits, including dried qilin meat. Fellow immortal Magu (a female transcendent) recounted witnessing the East Sea transform into mulberry fields three times, noting Penglai’s waters had recently halved—presaging another terrestrial shift.

This passage records the cultivation experiences and enlightenment achievements of several Daoist immortals:

In Yuhang (present-day Hangzhou), there was an elderly woman who requested wine. When the messenger returned, he brought a wine jar holding about five dou (an ancient measurement). Magu (the female immortal) had fingers resembling bird claws and was said to enjoy scratching people's backs. Some heard the sound of whipping in the air—this was an immortal performing magic.

Master Su (courtesy name Zixuan) first studied under Qin Gao, then followed Master Qiu, obtaining the Pine Resin Formula (a longevity technique). Master Qiu said: "I've been taking this for 2,700 years." Later he became a disciple of Master Juanzi, learning methods to expel the Three Corpses (parasitic spirits within the body) and cultivating the "Way of Three-in-One" (the unified practice of Jing, Qi, and Shen), while maintaining the Mud Ball Palace (a key cranial energy center during cultivation). On the sixth day of the third month in the second year of the Shenjue era (60 BCE) of Emperor Yuan of Han, he ascended northwestward riding clouds and dragons, becoming the High Minister of Mysterious Continent (a celestial official). Juanzi was the sage who obtained mysterious writings while gutting a fish.

The three Mao brothers (Mao Ying, Mao Gu, and Mao Zhong) and the two Xu father-son pair (Xu Mu and Xu Hui) all achieved enlightenment. The Elder Mao (Mao Ying) entered Hengshan at eighteen to study the Dao under Lord Wang of Xicheng, obtaining the Nine-Cycle Reverted Elixir (an advanced alchemical substance) at Turtle Mountain. During Emperor Yuan's reign, celestial officials descended to confer upon him titles including "Perfected Being of Great Origin," granting him governance over Wu-Yue region. The second brother Mao Zhong ingested the Supreme Ultimate Nine-Cycle Elixir to become the Lord Who Stabilizes Records of Wu-Yue, while the third brother Mao Gu served as Lord Who Preserves Life for the Three Officials, responsible for cultivating immortal herbs.

Xu Mu (courtesy name Xuanyi) served as Chief Secretary of the Protector Army during the Jin dynasty. The Primordial Lord of Southern Peak dispatched Master Yang to transmit Shangqing (Highest Clarity) Daoist methods to him. After achieving enlightenment, he was enfeoffed as Marquis of the Left Immortal Office. His son Xu Hui (courtesy name Daoxiang) also received transmissions from Master Yang, becoming the Shangqing Perfected Being Attending the Imperial Dawn.

Mao Meng (courtesy name Chucheng), ancestor of the three Mao lords, studied under Master Guiguzi. In the thirty-first year of Qin Shi Huang's reign (216 BCE), he ascended from Mount Hua riding a dragon. Xiao Zhen (courtesy name Lianzhen) entered Mount Yi to cultivate the Dao. From age forty, he consumed only cypress leaves and flower pills, supplemented with mulberry leaves and Solomon's Seal rhizome. By eighty, his white hair turned black and new teeth grew. He often recited the Huangting Jing (Yellow Court Scripture), with tigers regularly crouching before his bed—he would shoo them away with his staff as one might chase dogs.

Feng Chang (courtesy name Yanshou) served as Grand Scribe During the Zhou Dynasty under King Xuan, later meeting Pengzu and Du Chong (two renowned immortals) whom he took as his masters to study the Dao.

This passage recounts the cultivation achievements of several Daoist perfected beings. Peng Zong (courtesy name Faxian) became a disciple of Du Chong at age twenty, studying the Danjing (Elixir Scripture) and the "Way of the Female Unity" (a cultivation method). After achieving success in his practice, he could refrain from breathing for three days and nights, and could recite the Daode Jing (Classic of the Way and Virtue) twice in a single breath. He lived to 150 years before ascending to become a Perfected Being of Great Clarity (Taiqing). Du Chong (courtesy name Xuanyi) took up residence in the dwelling of Perfected Being Yin after the latter attained the Dao. After over twenty years of cultivation, he received an immortal prescription from Perfected Being Zhan. Upon consuming it, his entire body emitted jade radiance, and he ascended at age 120 as a Perfected Being of the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji).

Wang Tan (courtesy name Yangbo) was praised by Emperor Wen of Han as a recluse. At thirty-six, he frequently recited the Daode Jing and practiced generous charity. Perfected Being Zhao tested him by appearing as a beggar and, recognizing his sincerity, transmitted an immortal prescription. Later on Mount Zhongnan, he encountered the Mysterious Maiden of Great Mystery (Taixuan) and mastered the "art of concealing forms and transforming shapes" (a supernatural ability for invisibility and transformation). He could change into various forms—trees, stones, fire, water, birds, and beasts—before finally transforming into floating clouds and ascending to heaven.

Zhou Liang (courtesy name Taiyi) was born after his mother carried him for fifteen months. By nineteen, he stood eight feet tall and studied Daoist arts under Yao Tan. Later, he was invited by the immortal Wang Ziqin (a legendary immortal known for playing the sheng) to play the qin together. These stories illustrate how Daoist practitioners, through scripture recitation, elixir refinement, virtuous deeds, and accumulating merit, ultimately attained immortality and ascended to the Dao.

This scripture recounts the cultivation deeds of several Daoist immortals:

The stories of Magu of the Eastern Sea and the Elderly Lady of Yuhang are recorded in detail in the chapters about Wang Yuan and Cai Jing.

Ge Xuan (Lord Ge the Immortal) devoted himself to cultivation at Mount Tiantai at age eighteen, where he moved three Perfected Ones to descend and transmit to him the Lingbao Jing (Scripture of Numinous Treasure) and Zhaijiao (purification rituals). The Three Masters venerated in current ritual ceremonies are these same Perfected Ones who descended to impart the scriptures. Another adept, Wang Bao (courtesy name Zideng), entered Mount Hua to cultivate the Dao at thirty-one, receiving fasting techniques from the Perfected One of Western Liang. Later at Mount Xicheng, he studied Shangqing (Highest Clarity) methods and ultimately became the Perfected One of Clear Void.

When Zhang Daoling (Celestial Master Zhang) cultivated the Dao at Mount Heming in Shu, the rampant local demonic activity moved Laozi to transmit the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) covenant methods. He established twenty-four dioceses (Daoist administrative districts) to govern the demonic disturbances. People still benefit from his blessings today, with remnants of the Demon-Subduing Altar remaining. Yu Ji, originally from Beihai, suffered from chronic skin disease until he received two scrolls of the Taiping Jing (Scripture of Great Peace) from Bo He—not only curing his illness but later expanding the text into 170 scrolls atop Gaofeng Peak in Diaotai Village, Shangyu.

The accounts of Zhang Daoling’s disciples Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng: Wang Chang, the Celestial Master’s most valued inner-chamber disciple, received the essential teachings of the Nine Tripods, while Zhao Sheng passed seven rigorous tests before being accepted. Both later ascended to the celestial realm of Taiqing.

Finally, it mentions Li Shaojun’s audience with Emperor Wu of Han due to the latter’s Daoist inclinations, and Bo Dao’s successful alchemical practice. (Note: The ending text here is incomplete. The full story of "Bo Dao’s elixir completion"—referring to Liu Boda’s alchemical ascension—is recorded in other texts.)

After successfully refining the divine elixir, Master Mi said to Emperor Wu of Han: "Your Majesty, if you cannot abstain from extravagance and indulgence, remain addicted to sensual pleasures, continue waging wars of slaughter, and give way to capricious moods, then the world will be filled with wandering souls unable to return home, and blood will flow like rivers through both markets and court halls. Under such circumstances, the divine elixir of immortality can never be perfected." Having spoken these words, he feigned illness and passed away. Only then did Emperor Wu regret not having sought this master more diligently.

The Zhengao records: Mao Boda, Lou Daogong, Xie Zhijian, and Zhang Zhaoqi jointly refined the divine elixir. When the elixir was completed, Mao Boda consumed it first but died. Lou Daogong followed suit and also perished. Terrified, Xie Zhijian and Zhang Zhaoqi abandoned the elixir and fled. Yet when they looked back, they saw Mao Boda and Lou Daogong walking freely on the mountain. Stricken with shock and sorrow, the two later obtained a recipe for poria cocos (fuling), which they consumed and lived for several hundred years—though they never achieved ascension to immortality.

The stories of Lord Gui raising horses and Yin Gui avoiding war: The governor of Xuzhou, Lord Gui, suddenly contracted leprosy, and no physician could cure him. Hearing that Gan Ji (a Daoist immortal) had attained the Dao, he traveled with hundreds of attendants to seek an audience. Gan Ji said, "If you wish to be healed, you must resign from office and tend to horses." Lord Gui indeed resigned and spent three years raising horses. Without any treatment, his illness vanished unnoticed. Later, Gan Ji transmitted Daoist techniques to him, and he lived to 190 years before ascending as an immortal.

Yin Gui, styled Gongdu, regularly consumed yellow essence (huangjing) flowers, three ge (an ancient measure) daily. People across generations had seen him, and by their reckoning, he was already a thousand years old. During the Yongkang era of the Western Jin dynasty, he lodged overnight in Luoyang. The next day, he told his host, "Next year, a great war will erupt, and half the population will perish. Take this pill with you, and you will be spared." The following year, the rebellion of Prince Zhao indeed broke out, claiming tens of thousands of lives—only this host’s household survived unscathed.

When Guo Wenju of the Eastern Jin dynasty lived in seclusion on Mount Dapi in Yuhang, a tiger once approached him with its maw agape. Guo Wen understood that the beast had a bone lodged in its throat and reached in to remove it. The Shenxian Zhuan records that Lou Feng studied under Ji Qiu-zi, consuming stone laurel blossoms (shiguiying) and Central Peak stone yellow (zhongyue shihuang), living to 300 years of age. He was particularly skilled in prohibition arts (Daoist magical techniques). Once, encountering a merchant caravan besieged by hundreds of bandits on the road, Lou Feng warned them, "Disperse at once, or you will die." The bandits ignored him and instead loosed arrows at the merchants. Lou Feng roared—and the arrows reversed course, striking the bandits themselves. A sudden gale arose, whipping sand and stones into the air, darkening the heavens and earth. The terrified bandits scattered in panic.

At that moment, Immortal Feng subdued the bandit with a mere turn of his hand, forcing the man to immediately beg for mercy. Immortal Feng then commanded the celestial soldiers to release him.

Kong An had aspired to cultivate the Dao since youth. Fan Li (the renowned minister of Yue during the Spring and Autumn period), who had changed his name multiple times, recognized Kong An's dedication and imparted to him five secret alchemical formulas, enabling his transcendence from the mundane world. Kong An practiced breath cultivation techniques for years and ingested lead elixirs (Waidan, external alchemy), maintaining a youthful appearance even at three hundred years of age. He once told his disciples, "The fisherman I once served by the seaside was none other than Fan Li, the prime minister of Yue."

Li Gen (styled Ziyuan) was an immortal who achieved longevity beyond measure, appearing across generations. He taught Wu Taiwen the art of refining gold and silver, could freely traverse fire and water, and performed the "Traveling Kitchen" technique (a Daoist magic to conjure food from emptiness). Wu Taiwen noted that Li Gen's pupils were square—a sign recorded in immortal scriptures as marking eight hundred years of life. Another adept, Chen Zihuang, had gray hair and lost teeth in his seventies. After following a secret formula involving atractylodes (a medicinal herb) and practicing grain avoidance for three years, his hair turned black again, teeth regrew, and he lived to 230 before ascension.

Lou Jing served as a court official during Emperor Wen of Han's reign. Studying under Immortal Zhang Jun, he obtained the formula for mica-cinnabar pills. After ingestion, he retained the appearance of a thirty-year-old at 130. He passed this medicine to Prince Wang's son—a seventy-year-old who, after taking it, took eighty concubines, fathered twenty sons, could travel 300 li daily, drink ten liters of wine, and lived to 200.

Yan Qing, originally an impoverished charcoal burner from Kuaiji, encountered an immortal in the mountains who recognized his exceptional bone structure as ideal for cultivation. The immortal gave him a silk manuscript, instructing him to store it in a pure vessel placed high above, and taught him the method of "ingesting stone marrow" (a Waidan mineral ingestion technique). Upon practicing this, Yan Qing often sensed a dozen unseen attendants serving him. When transporting charcoal, spirits invisibly pulled his boat—observers saw only the vessel moving autonomously. Later, he practiced grain avoidance and secluded himself on Mount Xiaohuo.

Li Changshi, a native of Shu, studied Daoism in youth. Seen across generations, he showed no signs of aging after four centuries. Each time he married and had children, he would depart. After thirty years, he reappeared marrying again at Difei Mountain, repeating this cycle seventy years later at Hushou Mountain.

Li Zhongfu of Fengyi became a disciple of Immortal Wang Jun, learning the arts of elixir ingestion.

Shui Yu (a legendary immortal) mastered the art of Dunjia (esoteric divination), enabling him to become invisible. He lived for three hundred years, growing younger with time. His periods of invisibility lasted anywhere from a hundred days to a full year. When dining face-to-face with others, only his voice could be heard, never his form. A man who knew him lived five hundred li away, making his living by trapping birds with nets. One day, he caught a large bird in his net, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Zhongfu (another name for Shui Yu). After three hundred years among mortals, Shui Yu ascended to immortality from Mount Hua (the Western Sacred Mountain).

Bo He (courtesy name Zhongli) studied the methods of breath regulation (Tuna), grain avoidance (Bigu), and water ingestion under Master Dong. Later, he went to Mount Xicheng to become a disciple of Lord Wang. Lord Wang told him, "The secrets of the great Dao cannot be obtained immediately. I must leave temporarily for Yingzhou. Stay in this stone chamber and focus on the wall—over time, characters will appear. By practicing accordingly, you will attain the Dao." Bo He gazed at the wall intently. In the first year, he saw nothing; in the second, faint traces of writing emerged; and by the third year, he could clearly discern the Scripture of Supreme Clarity (Taiqing Zhongjing), Divine Elixir Formulas (Shendan Fang), Writings of the Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang Wen), and True Forms of the Five Sacred Mountains (Wuyue Zhenxing Tu). After mastering these texts, Lord Wang returned and said, "You have attained the Dao." Bo He then refined the divine elixir, consuming half of it to gain longevity and transforming the other half into five thousand jin of gold to aid the poor and sick.

Zhao Qu (courtesy name Zirong) contracted leprosy and was near death. Fearing infection, his family abandoned him in a mountain cave with some provisions. After a hundred days of weeping day and night, he suddenly saw three divine beings enter. They gifted him five dou each of pine nuts and pine resin, saying, "Consuming these will not only cure your illness but also grant you immortality." After taking them, Zhao Qu recovered. Two years later, his dwelling was filled with light as bright as day, and by the third year, he could see three-inch-tall celestial maidens accompanying him constantly, along with hearing immortal music. After three hundred years, he ascended to immortality from Mount Huo.

Gan Shi excelled in breath regulation (Tuna) and guiding Qi (Daoyin). By long-term consumption of asparagus root (Tianmendong), he lived to 186 years before ascending from Mount Wangwu. Huang Jing (courtesy name Boyan) cultivated the Dao on Mount Huo, visualizing a red star in his brain that spread like fire throughout his body. After over two hundred years, he achieved the Dao and ascended in flight.

Chen Chang lived in seclusion on Mount Zhuyu for six hundred years, conducting seasonal altar rituals. Gong Song (likely another cultivator) attained the Dao through composing and practicing Daoist scriptures.

Here are recorded several miraculous accounts of ancient Daoist practitioners:

There was an ascetic who neither ate nor drank, and who practiced no deliberate cultivation. When encountering the sick, he would give them consecrated water to drink, and all illnesses would be cured. Gong Song, a man of considerable literary talent, composed over two hundred volumes of Daoist texts. After long-term ingestion of mica (a mineral medicine), he attained the state of terrestrial immortality (dixian) and later achieved full transcendence in Zhuyu Mountain.

Zhou Taibin excelled at playing the qin zither. He once taught Mi Changsheng to produce eight tones from a single string, and later served as Left Minister in the Penglai paradise. Master Chuan entered a stone chamber on Jiaoshan Mountain in his youth to cultivate the Dao for seven years, where he encountered the Elder Lord of Wood Extremity (Mu Ji Laojun) who gave him a wooden drill and instructed him to bore through five feet of stone. Drilling ceaselessly day and night for forty-seven years, he finally penetrated the stone, obtained the Golden Elixir (jindan), ascended in broad daylight, and became the Perfected Person of Southern Peak (Nanyue Zhenren).

Zhuang Bowei would face northwest at sunset daily, closing his eyes to visualize Mount Kunlun. After twenty-one years of this practice, he began taking elixirs. After another decade of cultivation, he could see the immortals of Kunlun with closed eyes and obtained the method for refining Golden Liquor (jinye), through which he achieved ascension. Zhao Guangxin resided on Mount Xiaobai, traveling to Chang'an each morning to sell medicines and heal people, returning each evening. People said of him: "At dawn he leaves Xiaobai, by dusk returns to Chang'an." After seventy-eight years practicing Qi absorption techniques (fuqi fa), he ingested the Nine Splendors Elixir (jiuhua dan) and was escorted by the Great Unity deity (Taiyi Shen) in a cloud chariot to the Eastern Florescence Palace.

Zhang Xuanbin studied ingestion techniques (fushi shu) with Master Kuai of Xihe, then received instruction in invisibility and transformation arts from the Perfected Person Fan Ziming. He now governs rainfall at Huayang Grotto. Zhao Chengbo excelled at whistling, able to imitate hundreds of birds and sounds like wind through forests. He currently oversees celestial herbs and lingzhi mushrooms in the grotto.

Tian Shiwen entered the Dao at nineteen, studying the Three Caverns scriptures (sandong jingfa) with Master Wei while practicing breathing techniques (huxi tuna) and ingesting white atractylodes (baizhu) rhizome.

This records several extraordinary tales of individuals who attained immortality through Daoist cultivation:

During the Eastern Han dynasty, an emperor ascended a mountain on Gengshen Day (an important Daoist fasting day) holding incense to worship heaven. While performing rituals at the altar, several unusually sweet dates about two inches long suddenly descended from the sky. The seventy-five-year-old emperor was then welcomed into the Southern Palace (Daoist term for celestial abode) by a shower of banners and flowers descending from the heavens.

Wang Qiao of the Han dynasty was an immortal hiding in plain sight - serving as a county magistrate in Ye County by day while attending celestial gatherings at night. One day, yamen attendants saw two wild ducks fly into the hall. When struck down with a broom, they transformed into Wang Qiao's pair of shoes.

The Zhengao records: Fen Ziyang cultivated the Dao on Mount Chuanluo for over ninety years, subsisting only on peach tree bark and "yellow water from stones" (mineral water believed by Daoists to prolong life). He eventually attained immortality after receiving teachings from the immortal Sima Jizhu. Gao Qiuzi practiced on Mount Lujing for 520 years through reciting the Yellow Plain Daoist Scripture, consuming atractylodes (a medicinal herb used in Daoism) and the "Great Red Elixir," first becoming an earthbound immortal. Two centuries later, after ingesting the "Golden Liquid" (liquid form of the Golden Elixir), he ascended to the Great Purity Realm as the True Man of Central Peak (one of the Five Sacred Mountains' celestial officials).

The Biographies of Divine Immortals states: Ken Laizi achieved immortality by drinking from the Red Spring, while Lord Luoxia attained the Dao by consuming the legendary "Red Bird Night-Glow Mushroom."

Zhang Chang ascended after long-term consumption of asparagus root (a Chinese herb Daoists believe can lighten the body and prolong life); Fei Yuzi likewise attained immortality by taking the "Four Seasons Powder" (elixirs prepared according to seasonal cycles).

The Collected Biographies of Immortals records: Xingzi of Shu loved dogs dearly. Once following his beloved hound into a cave, he walked for over ten days until reaching a celestial realm atop the mountain. A celestial official gave him fish eggs to deliver to the Chengdu magistrate - when raised in a pond for a year, they transformed into dragons. Xingzi traveled between realms with his dog for over a century before finally remaining on the immortal mountain. Another man named Mu Yu was laughed at by a newborn baby who saw his mother during delivery. Later, his mother dreamed nightly of a white-capped immortal saying this child would attain immortality - indeed, the grown youth was one night taken away by a celestial chariot.

Master Ma Jian of the Louguan School (a Daoist lineage), whose Daoist name was Yuanyue, studied the "Five Talismans" (Daoist Fulu) under Master Sun. Another disciple, Hou Kai, moved celestial beings to descend and instruct him through devoted practice. These stories all demonstrate how sincere cultivation can ultimately resonate with heaven and earth.

This passage recounts the miraculous deeds of several Daoist practitioners. The Three Sovereigns' Great Characters (Sanhuang Dazi) found in the secret Fu Zhenwen (Talismanic True Script) possessed the power to summon myriad spirits and subdue demonic forces, with all such magical arts yielding immediate effects. One master suddenly received divine revelation from celestial beings, informing him that his accumulated virtue from past lives had already secured his name in the immortal registers, making further supplications to command spirits unnecessary. Thereupon, this master concealed all his magical arts and devoted himself solely to cultivating the practice of "Embracing the One and Guarding the Mysterious" (a key Daoist cultivation method). At the age of ninety-eight, white clouds drifted in from the northwest and entered his chamber. When disciples rushed out to look, they saw only the white clouds ascending southward until they vanished. This master was named Hou Kai, styled Faxian, who at fourteen became a disciple of Chen Baochi to learn authentic transmission secrets. Though his master advised him to practice in the mountains, he expressed unwillingness to forsake his teacher's kindness, only completing his cultivation at fifty-two. During this period, wondrous signs appeared—sacred springs gushed forth and marvelous trees emitted mist. At eighty-six, he achieved immortality and ascended.

Another master, Mu Shixian, became a disciple of Master Niu at eleven. He delighted in charitable deeds, secretly giving all offerings he received to impoverished elders. In winter, he would scatter grain in the courtyard to feed birds, attracting flocks. His teacher Chen Baochi (styled Baochi) mastered qin zither and weiqi by twenty-one. Initially studying under Master Wang, he later learned profound mysteries from Master Lu Jingzhen on Mount Hua. During morning cultivation, a white tiger would quietly accompany him. Later, a pack of tigers even struck trees to warn evildoers, earning the site the name "Tiger-Testing Tree."

Liang Chen (styled Kaocheng) became a disciple of Master Zheng at seventeen, carefully avoiding insects and small creatures when walking. At seventy-seven, he ascended amid clouds and mist. Sun Che (styled Zhongxuan) studied under Master Wang at eighteen, often cultivating in trees or caves while weaving mats from kudzu vines. He could predict fortune by observing facial complexions. At seventy, he suddenly bid farewell to disciples, waving his sleeves before vanishing without trace.

Master Wang (Daoist name Daoyi) practiced cultivation with intense concentration, his spirit seemingly wandering among white clouds while he devoted himself to studying the alchemical arts (Neidan, the Daoist internal alchemy). He oversaw the reconstruction of a Daoist temple and revitalized its spiritual practices. Due to his sincere cultivation, he frequently experienced miraculous responses. Legends tell of celestial provisions miraculously replenishing the temple's granary without end, which he used to aid the common people while accumulating spiritual merit (De). Both nearby and distant sufferers of poverty and illness received his benevolence. At age sixty-three, white deer began appearing intermittently in his courtyard, and later he achieved his immortal ascension (referred to as "molting" in Daoist terminology) amidst these auspicious signs.

Yin Tong (courtesy name Lingjian) began his Daoist training under Master Ma at twenty-six, consuming herbal medicines like Solomon's Seal, Asparagus root, and Realgar pills (Daoist longevity elixirs). His virtuous character (De) earned reverence from scholars and commoners alike, with visitors constantly arriving at his gate. Both monastic and lay admirers respected his noble integrity. He donated all generous gifts received toward meritorious projects and famine relief, keeping nothing for himself. When he passed at 101, divine lanterns were often seen illuminating his chamber.

Regarding Nun Gong of Penglai (a female practitioner surnamed Chen) and Master Qi Hui of Taibai Mountain: Chen was an immortal of Penglai who attained thousand-year longevity by ingesting magnetite and "flying silver" (two types of transcendent medicines). Her twelve disciples all learned immortal techniques and achieved ascension. Master Qi Hui (courtesy name Pingding), during Emperor Gaozu's rise in the Tang dynasty, led eighty Daoists in meritorious service to the nation, receiving titles like "Grand Master of Palace Leisure with Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon." During state purification rituals (Zhaijiao, Daoist ceremonial offerings), yellow clouds enveloped the altar, merging with incense smoke as two white deer cried before departing. He told disciples: "Immortal scriptures state those seeking transcendence must enter Taibai Mountain." With this, he led followers into mountain seclusion, demonstrating profound detachment from worldly concerns.

(Note: Terms like "molting" and "immortal transformation" honor Daoist practitioners' passing; "ingesting" refers to longevity practices involving elixirs and herbs; "offering ceremonies" denote essential Daoist sacrificial rites)

This passage records the miraculous deeds of several ancient Daoist practitioners:

The Huashan Daoist Bo Shanfu cultivated longevity techniques through ingestion practices (fushi zhi shu). When returning to his hometown, he encountered his elderly and ailing niece and gave her immortal medicine. The seventy-year-old woman regained her youth after taking the elixir, her complexion becoming peach-blossom fresh. Later, a Han dynasty envoy witnessed a young woman scolding an old man, only to learn this "young woman" was actually 140 years old, chastising her 87-year-old son—the very child of the niece who had refused the medicine.

Liu Gang, magistrate of Shangyu County, and his wife Lady Fan were both accomplished adepts. During a friendly competition of Daoist arts, Liu conjured flames from the east, while Lady Fan summoned rain from the west to extinguish them.

The Holy Mother of Dongling (wife of the Du family) learned Liu Gang's techniques and could vanish instantly. When her skeptical husband falsely accused her of adultery and authorities imprisoned her, she flew through the window and disappeared into the clouds. Kong Yuanchang ingested pine resin and poria cocos (fuling) elixirs, maintaining youthful vigor at 170 years old—able to drink wine while standing on his hands. He later dwelled in a riverside cave before attaining the Dao (dedao) at Huashan's western peak.

She Zheng of Badong claimed to have seen Emperor Qin Shi Huang and always walked with closed eyes. When disciples begged him to open them, lightning-like radiance flashed from his pupils, sending them prostrate in awe. Li Babai called him "the four-hundred-year-old child." Wang Lie of Handan regularly consumed Solomon's seal (huangjing) and lead elixirs (qiandan), retaining youthful features at 238 while scaling mountains effortlessly. He maintained friendship with the famous scholar Ji Kang.

These narratives exemplify Daoist cultivation lore—through elixir ingestion (fushi) and esoteric practices, adepts allegedly gained immortality, rejuvenation, and command over natural forces.

In the Taihang Mountains, someone heard the sound of the mountain splitting open and went to investigate, finding a fissure hundreds of zhang deep. From the crack emerged a bluish mud, its texture resembling marrow. When gathered and kneaded, it quickly solidified into stone, soft like hot wax. Those who tasted it said it had the flavor of glutinous rice. According to immortal scriptures, sacred mountains open once every five hundred years, and the stone marrow produced within grants longevity equal to heaven and earth to those who consume it.

Jiao Xian (styled Xiaoran), a native of Hedong, often boiled white stones and shared them with others—the cooked stones tasted like taro. He cut firewood daily to give to the poor and wore only a single layer of clothing even in winter. Once, a fire burned down his thatched hut, yet he remained seated motionless. After the flames subsided, the hut was destroyed, but his clothes remained unharmed. When heavy snow collapsed many houses, people went to check on him but found no trace of his hut. Later, they discovered him lying beneath the snow, his breath steaming like a cauldron. Young and old alike witnessed him living this way for two hundred years before he bid farewell and vanished without a trace.

Sun Deng lived as a recluse in mountain caves, fond of playing the zither and reading the Book of Changes (Yijing). He wore only a single layer of clothing in both winter and summer, covering himself with his exceptionally long hair (over a zhang in length) when cold. Sometimes he begged in the marketplace, giving whatever money he received to the poor. He once remarked that Ji Kang (styled Shuye) was brilliant but lacked the wisdom to protect himself. Sun Deng could play entire melodies on a single-stringed zither and ultimately disappeared without a trace.

The Biographies of Immortals (Liexian Zhuan) records: Ge You, a Qiang tribesman during the reign of King Cheng of Zhou, was skilled at carving wooden sheep to sell. One day, he rode a wooden sheep into Shu and ascended Mount Sui, followed by nobles who ascended to immortality with him. The Biographies of Divine Immortals (Shenxian Zhuan) states: Wang Zhen of Shangdang began cultivating the Dao at the age of seventy-nine, yet after thirty years, his face remained youthful. He could leisurely outpace galloping horses, and when Cao Cao met him, he appeared to be in his thirties. Wang Zhen passed on his alchemical techniques to Xi Yuanjie, and villagers estimated his true age to be over four hundred. Later, he ascended Mount Nüji with three young concubines and attained immortality.

The Biographies of Divine Immortals also recounts: Luan Ba, a native of Shu, was invited by the governor to serve as a merit official and became his teacher. Demonstrating his Daoist arts, he sat cross-legged and passed through a wall, while the sound of a tiger's roar came from outside. When he returned, it turned out to be Luan Ba himself in transformed form. Later, as governor of Yuzhang, he encountered a temple deity who could converse with people. Investigating its origins, Luan Ba discovered it was the spirit of a scholar who had fled to Qi (this scholar had once been taken as a son-in-law by a governor and had a child). He then traveled to Qi to resolve the matter.

This text records the miraculous deeds of several Daoist immortals who attained the Dao:

There was a minister named Ba who, during the imperial New Year's banquet, suddenly sprayed wine toward the southwest. When questioned by the emperor, he explained he was extinguishing a fire in his hometown Chengdu. The emperor sent messengers to verify, and indeed, when Chengdu had caught fire that day, a rain carrying the fragrance of wine descended from heaven to quench the flames.

Yin Changsheng, a native of Xinye, followed the immortal Ma Mingsheng for over a decade before obtaining the Great Clarity Divine Elixir (Taiqing Shendan) at Mount Qingtian. After consuming half the dose, he ascended to heaven in broad daylight. The remaining half, when boiled with yellow earth, transformed into gold. For 170 years he aided the poor and sick while maintaining youthful features, finally composing nine alchemical scriptures before achieving immortality.

Kuai Zixun of Qi lived over 200 years without showing signs of aging. Once, when multiple noble families simultaneously invited him, he miraculously appeared in twenty-three households thousands of miles apart. Later, he rode a green mule out of the city, with pursuers on horseback always remaining half a mile behind despite their efforts.

Qin Gao, a Warring States period musician from Zhao, mastered the qin and practiced Pengzu's longevity techniques for two centuries. One day he arranged to meet disciples in the waters of Zhuojun, ultimately riding a crimson carp to ascend as an immortal.

Hugong, a mysterious medicine seller in Runan's marketplace, hung a gourd (hu) while healing all ailments without bargaining, donating his earnings to the poor. Fei Changfang discovered the immortal's secret when he saw him vanish daily into the empty gourd. After serving Hugong reverently, Fei was taken inside the gourd to discover a celestial palace of jade towers. Though Hugong transmitted Daoist arts enabling Fei to heal others, Fei ultimately failed his spiritual test and lost the immortal powers.

This passage recounts several ancient tales of Daoist cultivation leading to immortality:

Fei Changfang followed an immortal into a gourd's mystical realm, where he beheld rainbow-hued pavilions and saw the sun and moon shining simultaneously. The immortal tested him three times, but he failed each trial. Ultimately, he was given a bamboo staff to take home, which later became his magical instrument for healing the world—capable of exorcising evil spirits, summoning winds, and calling forth rain.

Dong Feng (courtesy name Junyi) revived the deceased Governor of Jiaozhou, Shi Xie, who had been dead for three days, using three immortal elixirs. Upon revival, Shi Xie described his postmortem experiences—being taken to the underworld by black-clad figures before being rescued by an emissary of the Supreme One (Taiyi). Dong Feng later retreated to Mount Lu to cultivate apricot trees and ascended to immortality in broad daylight at over a hundred years old.

Liu Gen (courtesy name Jun'an) practiced Daoism in a stone chamber on Mount Song, wearing no clothes in winter while green hair grew on his body. Through his spiritual powers, he enabled a governor to see his deceased parents, who reprimanded their son for offending an immortal. Liu Gen later withdrew to Mount Dongting, where his body also became covered in green hair.

The passage concludes with mentions of Song Lun (courtesy name Dexuan), who began cultivating the Dao at age twenty-two during King Li of Zhou's reign, and Du Chong, who practiced on Mount Jiuhua. These stories collectively illustrate ancient cultivators attaining supernatural abilities and ultimately achieving immortality through their practice.

(Note: "Taiyi" refers to one of Daoism's supreme deities; "cinnabar" (zhusha) symbolizes the elixir of immortality; "talismans" (fu) are ritual documents used in Daoist magic; and "divine chariots" (keche) are the vehicles of immortals.)

A man devoted himself to Daoist practice for many years, reciting the Daode Jing (the Five Thousand Character Classic) daily and consuming medicinal herbs like Solomon's seal and atractylodes rhizome. After twenty years of such discipline, Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun) descended to bestow upon him the celestial art of "Lingfei Liujia Suzou Danfu." Through practicing this method, he attained spiritual powers—his prophecies never failed, he could traverse mountain cliffs effortlessly, covering three thousand li in a single day, and cross waters without needing boats or bridges. In his nineties, during King Jing of Zhou's reign, he achieved immortality and later became the guardian of Mount Song.

Du Chong (styled Xuan Yi) began cultivating the Dao at twenty-five. After over two decades of serene meditation and focused concentration, he moved the Perfected Master Zhan to descend. Zhan imparted to him the "Jiuhua Danfang" (Nine Blossoms Elixir Formula), explaining: "When Lord Lao and Perfected Master Yin gathered immortals at Mount Bating in the Eastern Sea, the underworld officials recommended you for your diligent practice. Thus, I was sent to transmit this divine formula." After consuming the elixir, Du Chong's body emitted jade-like radiance. By King Mu of Zhou's era, he had lived 120 years and was honored with the title "Perfected Master of the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji Zhenren)."

The female Daoist Wang Daolian understood cultivation at just seven years old. She frequently purchased fragrant oils for divine offerings, abstained from meat, and wore no silk. Day and night, she recited the Three Caverns Scriptures (Sandong Jing), later establishing a Daoist temple named "Xuanyao" (Mystical Brilliance) at Dragon Mountain. To the temple's southeast, a massive tree suddenly grew—its canopy resembling an umbrella, shading the entire altar, with five-paired leaves unknown to contemporaries, dubbed "palm leaves." Later, a jade casket descended from heaven onto the altar. When she completed ten thousand recitations, a cloud-borne chariot arrived amid pealing thunder and fragrant winds filling the sky.

Yao Tan (styled Yuan Tai), a native of Pingyang, began his Daoist path at nineteen. In the first year of King Ping of Zhou, while reciting the Daode Jing, he remained unshaken even as mountains crumbled and earth split. Long-term ingestion of pine resin preceded a divine encounter where immortals granted him the "Method of Mystical White Body Transformation" and the "Scripture of Heavenly Passes and Three Charts for Flight." Cultivating these, his eyes emitted lightning-like radiance, and he lived 210 years. During King Jian of Zhou's reign, on a stormy fifth-month day, silver blossoms rained from the sky, carpeting the ground as he was enshrined as "Perfected Master of Mysterious Isles."

Lü Shang (Jiang Ziya) fled the tyranny of King Zhou of Shang to reclusively dwell in Liaodong. Later, while fishing at Pan Stream, he encountered King Wen of Zhou. Having consumed the immortal herbs "marsh orchids and earth marrow," he lived two centuries. At burial, his corpse vanished, leaving only six jade tablets. Wang Zhu once joined Daoist adepts gathering herbs in the mountains...

Mount Dang was renowned for its abundant cinnabar deposits (a mineral used in alchemical preparations), said to yield tens of thousands of pounds. When local officials learned of this, they sealed off the mining area, only for the cinnabar to erupt like flames, forcing them to permit extraction. Magistrate Zhang Junming consumed cinnabar for three years and later obtained the miraculous "Flying Snow" cinnabar. After continuous ingestion for five years, he attained the ability to fly and ascended as an immortal.

The Liexian Zhuan (Biographies of Immortals) records the story of Master Fuju, who often wandered the markets of Wu carrying mirror-polishing tools, charging just one coin per service. He would inquire if households had any illnesses and offer purple medicinal pills that cured every ailment. Over the years, he healed tens of thousands without accepting payment, and only then did people realize he was an immortal. Later, he climbed the cliffs of Mount Wu, lowered medicines from the summit, and announced: "I am returning to Penglai, the immortal isle, but I leave you divine water." True to his word, a spring flowed from the cliff, and many who drank from it were healed.

Fulu was a man who often stayed in Ju. Once, by the seaside, he encountered three immortals playing chess. They had him carry dozens of yellow-white gourds, and after closing his eyes briefly, he found himself on Mount Fangzhang of Penglai. Later, he frequently brought treasures, pearls, and jade from Fangzhang back to Ju to sell, though no one knew how he traveled between the two.

Zhu Jigong, a native of Shixiang in Luoyang, raised chickens at the foot of a mountain for over a hundred years, naming each one. Thousands of chickens roamed freely by day and returned to their coops at night, coming when called. He earned millions from selling chickens and eggs but eventually abandoned all wealth and ascended as an immortal to Mount Wu, often accompanied by hundreds of white cranes and peacocks.

Xuan Su claimed to be from Hejian and regularly consumed quartz (a medicinal mineral), selling medicine in the marketplace—seven pills for one coin, guaranteed to cure all ailments. When the Prince of Hejian suffered from abdominal masses, Xuan Su's medicine expelled over a dozen snakes, healing him completely. Some said Xuan Su cast no shadow, so the prince had him stand in sunlight—indeed, he left no shadow. The prince then offered his daughter in marriage, but Xuan Su vanished by midnight.

Lu Tong, also known as Jieyu the Madman of Chu, practiced longevity cultivation, consuming peaches and acorns while wandering famous mountains. At Mount Emei in Sichuan, generations reported sightings of him over centuries before he disappeared without a trace.

Wen Bin, from Taiqiu Village, made a living selling shoes and married multiple times, only to leave each wife after a decade or so. Later, he encountered a former wife, now ninety years old but appearing youthful, realizing she too had attained the Dao of immortality.

Here are accounts of several individuals who attained immortality through Daoist cultivation:

Zhou Jitong (Perfected Purple Yang), a seventh-generation descendant of the famed Han general Zhou Bo, began studying Daoist methods under Master Su at sixteen. After traveling to renowned mountains across the land, he achieved the Dao and was enfeoffed as Perfected Purple Yang, attaining a place in the highest Daoist celestial realm of Shangqing (Upper Clarity).

Pei Xuanren (Perfected Clear Numen) encountered the Daoist priest Zhi Ziyuan at twelve and received five oral formulas for cultivation. After five years of dedicated practice, he absorbed the essences of sun and moon, invoked the descent of the five planets, and ultimately received the title Perfected Clear Numen, also ascending to Shangqing.

Yang Quan (Dao Yu) met the female immortal E Lühua, who bestowed upon him several celestial poems along with treasures like fire-washed cloth and gold-jade bracelets. This immortal maiden was originally named Luo Yu from Jiuyi Mountain, who had been exiled to the mortal realm for nine hundred years due to transgressions in a past life.

Yang Xi (Lord Yang), formerly an official in the Eastern Jin court, resigned to cultivate at Maoshan. The Lady of Purple Tenuity and the Peaceful Consort of Nine Flowers presented him with celestial poetry and immortal dates. In the twelfth year of the Taiyuan era, he ascended to heaven astride a dragon, becoming the "Lord of Eastern Florescence, Imperial Attendant and Director of Destiny," overseeing deities and people in the Wu-Yue region.

Jiao Kuang (Great Magnanimity), a Daoist revered by Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, witnessed miraculous phenomena while establishing a temple at Huayin Mountain—earth spontaneously emerging from rocks, an oil jar that never emptied, and two bluebirds that announced visitors while mountain spirits guarded the sanctuary.

Yu Zhang (Changwen) could comprehend the Daode Jing at seven. Ordained under Master Hou at eleven, he mastered 136 celestial talismans for divination. At eighty-two, white birds circled overhead as he achieved transcendence.

Ling Shouguang of Fufeng obtained the vermilion... (text fragment suggests an elixir or method) at seventy. While details of Master Dongguo (Bright Light) are incomplete, his inclusion suggests similar attainment. These records collectively demonstrate how consuming elixirs and practicing Daoist methods can reverse aging and lead to immortality.

Dongguo Yannian was a native of Shanyang. After consuming the Lingfei Powder (an immortal elixir), he could write in pitch-dark rooms, emit radiant light from his body that illuminated his surroundings, and discern tiny objects dozens of miles away. He lived over four hundred years in his hometown without showing signs of aging, until dozens of celestial beings riding tigers and leopards came to escort him in ascension to Mount Kunlun.

Li Yiqi hailed from Shu region. When people needed to travel great distances swiftly, he would simply draw a talisman (fulu) and place it under their arms, enabling them to cover thousands of miles in a single day. Wang Xing of Yangcheng was originally illiterate and uninitiated in Daoist practice. When Emperor Wu of Han climbed Mount Song, he encountered a strange man nine feet tall with earlobes reaching his shoulders, who claimed to come from Mount Jiuyi seeking a special nine-jointed calamus herb said to confer immortality. The giant vanished suddenly after picking the herb. Though the emperor and his ministers tried consuming the herb without lasting effect, Wang Xing persisted and lived until Cao Cao's era, maintaining the appearance of a fifty-year-old while walking three hundred li daily.

Li Shunxing began studying Daoism at age nine under a master. While cultivating at Taiping Valley on Mount Nan, a celestial chariot with feathered canopy descended from heaven one day, bearing three great immortals who transmitted to him the Scripture of Golden Truth and Jade Radiance (Jinzhen Yuguang Jing) and the Scripture of Seven Transformations Dancing Through Heaven (Qibian Wutian Jing). He attained the Dao at seventeen and ascended at thirty-eight. Zhang Fale studied under Master Yin from childhood and received authentic transmission. On the night of his initiation, miraculous lanterns and auspicious clouds appeared. After over thirty years of cultivation, his dwelling became perpetually wreathed in cloud vapor, earning it the name "Snow Dwelling Abbey."

Dong Zhongjun lived over two hundred years. When falsely accused and imprisoned, he feigned death—his "corpse" quickly breeding maggots—to secure his release.

This passage records the extraordinary deeds of several ancient Daoist practitioners:

Qian Ping of Pei County was originally a guard of Emperor Gaozu of Han. After achieving success in Daoist cultivation, he showed no signs of aging even during Emperor Guangwu's reign in the Eastern Han. He feigned death and disappeared for over a hundred years before returning to his hometown.

Wang Zhongdu, a Daoist from Hanzhong, possessed remarkable abilities. Emperor Yuan of Han once made him sit surrounded by a dozen burning stoves during midsummer without sweating; in deepest winter he wore only thin garments yet felt no cold, with steam rising from his body. He later disappeared without trace. Cheng Wei's wife knew magical arts—once when Cheng accompanied the emperor's procession without adequate clothing, she miraculously transported two bolts of silk before him. After years of failed alchemical attempts (Waidan), she added a pinch of medicinal powder to mercury, instantly transforming it into silver.

Lou Yuangang attained the Dao through consuming Lingfei Powder (an elixir); Rongcheng Gong achieved longevity by practicing the Mysterious-Simple arts (sexual cultivation). Sang Zilin and Zhang Xu consumed realgar; Chao Fu and Xu You took quartz; Gui Ying likewise attained immortality.

Hao Ronggong ingested deer antlers, while Xiumei Gong became immortal through poria cocos. Shangqiu Gong consumed peach resin, and Qingniao Gong achieved the Dao with Nine-Essence Powder.

Lu Nüsheng of Changle, through long-term consumption of sesame and atractylodes, could travel 300 li daily at eighty years old, outrunning deer. Fifty years after their parting, someone saw her riding a white deer with dozens of jade maidens (immortal women) at Huashan Temple. Feng Junda of Longxi took polygonatum and refined silver elixir—returning to his hometown at a hundred years old looking thirty, often riding a green ox (earning him the name "Green Ox Daoist"). He lived two centuries before attaining the Dao at Mount Xuanqiu.

Lilou Gong achieved the Dao through bamboo sap, and White Rabbit Gong through polygonatum. Master Yan (named Da, styled Daotong, from Fufeng) of the Louguan lineage could discern subtle musical tones, while Guo Zhen could shake buildings with spiritual power.

These accounts collectively demonstrate the supernatural abilities and longevity attained by practitioners through elixir consumption and cultivation techniques.

Master Hou (an honorific title for accomplished Daoist practitioners) could recite over ten thousand words of scripture daily by age twelve, and had mastered all major classics by twenty. In the early Kaihuang era of the Sui dynasty, he oversaw the renovation of a Daoist temple while mentoring 120 disciples. On the seventh day of the third lunar month during the fifth year of Daye reign, while listening to qin music, he suddenly remarked: "This melody has touched the divine realm—celestial beings shall descend. Play one more piece." Before the song concluded, he peacefully departed this life at ninety-five.

Master Ju (i.e., Master Hou), originally named Guo Zhen from Wugong County, took monastic vows at thirty under Master You's guidance to study essential Daoist teachings. Thereafter he maintained a vegetarian diet, wore coarse hemp robes in reclusion, never craving delicacies when hungry nor adding layers when cold, devoting his days to scripture recitation and heart-mind cultivation. At sixty, as disciples attended him, phantom carriage sounds were heard without visible source—the entire chamber trembled before his serene transformation (Daoist term for an adept's passing, called "molting" or "feathered ascent").

Zhang Hao, styled Wenming from Runan, entered the Daoist path in the second year of Emperor An of Han's Yongchu era at twenty. After passing three trials by immortal Feng Heng, he received the sacred text Azure-Waisted Purple Tome and half-ounce of divine elixir, practicing intensively at Red Wall Mountain. Upon attainment, he could transform into a white crane soaring skyward or become wandering clouds traversing the eight directions. At 138, during Emperor Ming of Wei's Taihe era ninth month, celestial officials descended to confer upon him the title Grand Clarity High Immortal (a senior Daoist celestial rank).

Yin Cheng, styled Chumo from Fenyin, began maintaining perpetual incense and lamps at meditation altars from age twenty-eight. Miraculously, incense regenerated when nearly spent, and lamps self-illuminated when oil ran dry. He once healed an injured mountain deer with medicinal preparations. Later when trapped starving in wilderness, does nursed him with milk and warmed him with their bodies until rescue days later. Another time during mountain wildfires, apes formed chains to carry him to summit safety. Discovering luminous stone ganoderma (lingzhi mushroom of immortality), its consumption enabled him to travel 600-700 li daily. Ultimately receiving the Three Sovereigns Scripture and nine-cycle elixir formula from immortal Song Jun, he ascended at 340 during Emperor Zhao of Han's reign as a Grand Clarity Immortal.

The Biographies of Exemplary Immortals records how Mount Tai adept Ji Qiu successfully petitioned Emperor Wu of Han to abort an imperial tour, compelling the monarch's immediate return to the palace.

The Immortal Garden's String of Pearls records the miraculous deeds of several individuals who attained the Dao:

Lu Pigong was a minor government clerk in his youth, skilled in carpentry and able to craft tools with bare hands. Later, he ascended Cen Mountain and discovered a divine spring at its summit, though inaccessible. He petitioned the authorities for thirty carpenters to construct suspended walkways and ladders, eventually enabling him to consume spirit mushrooms and drink from the celestial spring on the mountain. When catastrophic floods later struck, the people were thus able to take refuge there.

Lady Gouyi of Qi, surnamed Zhao, had a permanently clenched right fist that would not open. After Emperor Wu of Han brought her into the palace, her hand suddenly unfurled, revealing a jade hook. She later gave birth to Emperor Zhao but was killed by Emperor Wu. When Emperor Zhao reburied her, the coffin was found empty, containing only a pair of shoes.

Gu Chun of Liyang served as a court gentleman during Emperor Cheng of Han's reign. Feigning death from illness, his corpse remained warm, preventing his family from sealing the coffin. Three years later, he appeared wearing official headgear atop the county gate tower. When people opened his coffin, they found only clothes—no corpse. After remaining at the gate for three days, he departed.

Shantu of Longxi broke his leg falling from a horse until encountering a Daoist who taught him to consume rehmannia, angelica, notopterygium, pubescent angelica, and sophora root. After a year's recovery, he followed the Daoist gathering herbs, reportedly returning home only once every decade before disappearing completely.

Huzi Qulin was Liezi's teacher. When Liezi brought a Zheng diviner—renowned for predicting fortunes and life spans—to meet him, Huzi manifested three miraculous water-wave transformations. The diviner, unable to comprehend these, fled. Liezi (given name Yukou) cultivated the art of wind-riding, making fortnightly journeys that earned him the title "Perfected Being of Soaring Emptiness."

Feng Yi of Huayin attained aquatic immortality by consuming "water jade," becoming the River Earl. Wenzi, a disciple of Laozi during King Ping of Zhou's reign, authored twelve treatises. His boating journeys across three rivers and five lakes earned him the sobriquet "Old Fisherman" and the Daoist name "Perfected Being of Penetrating Mystery."

Zhuangzi's writings record the allegory of the Kun fish transforming into the Peng bird during the Sangchu era of abundant harvests. These accounts collectively demonstrate adepts transcending life and death through extraordinary spiritual powers.

Zhuangzi (courtesy name Zixiu) was a native of the Song state who authored thirty-three chapters of philosophical writings. His opening passage describes a giant fish named Kun in the northern sea, spanning thousands of miles, which transforms into a roc bird with wings like clouds across the sky. Beating the waters for three thousand miles, it soars ninety thousand miles upward before flying south to the Southern Sea. For this cosmic vision, Zhuangzi was venerated as the Perfected of Southern Florescence (Nanhua Zhenren), Daoism's honorific title for him. Gengsang Chu (a disciple of Laozi) lived at Mount Yu for three years, during which the region enjoyed seasonal rains and abundant harvests, earning him the title Perfected of the Cavernous Numinous (Dongling Zhenren).

The Perfected Dame Changrong, a cultivator from Mount Chang, regularly gathered purple herbs to sell at dye shops, donating all proceeds to orphans and the elderly. Moving among humans for over two centuries, she maintained the appearance of a twenty-year-old. Anqisheng of Langya sold medicines by the Eastern Sea, where people called him "Millennium Elder." When Emperor Qin Shi Huang toured eastward, they conversed for three days and nights. Though offered mountains of gold and silver, Anqisheng left the treasures untouched, departing with only a pair of red jade slippers and the message: "Seek me later at Penglai Mountain."

Ma Dan of Geng in Jin state vanished during a sudden gale that tore off the palace roof when Duke Ling of Jin tried to forcibly appoint him—riding the whirlwind to disappearance. Cultivator Xiuyanggong of Wei practiced in stone chambers of Huayin Mountain, perpetually reclining on a stone bed without eating, sustaining himself solely on Solomon's Seal (a medicinal herb). After Emperor Jing of Han consulted him repeatedly for years, he abruptly transformed into a white stone goat bearing the inscription "Xiuyanggong," which later disappeared completely.

Chixuzi of Feng County could predict droughts and famines. Fond of pine nuts and asparagus root (both medicinal), he regrew lost teeth and hair before retreating to Mount Wu. Cui Wenzi of Mount Tai sold medicines in cities for three centuries. When pestilence struck, he cured tens of thousands by administering yellow medicines while carrying a red banner.

This scripture recounts several marvelous tales of ancient cultivators attaining immortality:

Shu villager Ziying was skilled at fishing. One day he caught a peculiar red carp and kept it in his pond, feeding it regularly. The carp eventually grew over ten feet long, sprouting horns and wings. It spoke to Ziying: "I've come to fetch you," whereupon heavy rain began falling. Ziying mounted the fish's back and ascended to immortality.

Jiyin resident Yuanke spent years cultivating five-colored fragrant herbs. After over a decade, five-colored moths alighted on the plants. He raised silkworms on cloth pads beneath them, assisted by a woman who claimed to be his wife. Together they produced 120 enormous silkworm cocoons—each requiring sixty days to fully unwind—before both mysteriously vanished. Locals still make offerings to them during silkworm seasons.

From Emperor Huangdi's era came Chijiang Ziyu, who abstained from grains, subsisting solely on flowers and herbs. By Emperor Yao's reign he'd become a carpenter capable of riding wind and rain through the skies. During the Zhou dynasty, Mao Shu practiced Qi cultivation and consumed boiled stalactites, living centuries before entering Shaoshi Mountain.

Ge Hong's father-in-law Bao Liang attained the Dao on Luofu Mountain. The Su family's retainer You Bozi wore thin clothes in winter and quilted pants in summer, growing stronger with age while protecting generations of Su descendants.

From Emperor Gaoxin's time, Zhan Shanggong planted plum trees across Fulong Valley, later becoming Right Guardian of the Nine Palaces. Jiang Shumao cultivated five fruits and five pungent vegetables below the mountains, enfeoffed as Marquis of Baling by King Xiao of Qin, now serving as Left Minister in Penglai's immortal realm.

Xu Xun (courtesy name Jingzhi), magistrate of Jingyang County in Shu, achieved the legendary "ascension with household"—his entire family rising bodily to immortality. These accounts, preserved in the Daoist classic Immortal Garden String of Pearls, document adepts across eras attaining transcendence through extraordinary cultivation.

This account records the celestial ascensions of multiple Daoist immortals. At Zhongling Cave, County Magistrate Shi Chanmu received transmission of Daoist methods from Xiaodao Mingwang (Filial and Enlightened King) and passed them to Wu Meng (courtesy name Shiyun). On the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the second year of the Yongkang era (301 CE) of the Jin dynasty, Wu Meng led forty-two practitioners in a collective ascension to become celestial immortals. At that time, he was known as Wu He, courtesy name Daoyang. When Xu Xun (Xu Zhenjun, the True Lord Xu) of Siming Mountain ascended, he cleared the path through clouds while holding a dragon scepter.

Wu Meng rode a white deer, while his disciple Gan Zhan (courtesy name Bowu) ascended astride a multicolored qilin. Gan Zhan, a devoted disciple of Xu Xun, maintained strict zhai-jiao (purification rituals) and particularly excelled in fulu (talismanic magic), having deeply mastered Xu Xun's authentic teachings. On the seventh day of the first month in the first year of Tianjian era (560 CE) of the Chen dynasty, Gan Zhan achieved daylight ascension riding a qilin-drawn chariot.

Zhou Guang (courtesy name Huichang) served Xu Xun like an attendant. During the Yuankang era (291-299 CE), he guided Xu Xun back to his former residence at Youwei Temple while bearing ceremonial banners. Chen Xun (courtesy name Xiaoju), who admired Xu Xun's Daoist methods, deliberately took a minor official post in Jingyang County to become his disciple, eventually entering the inner circle of transmission. When Xu Xun's entire household ascended, Chen Xun led the procession holding feather banners.

Zeng Heng (courtesy name Guoxing) possessed extraordinary bone structure, and the renowned hermit Sun Deng once remarked on his suitability for Daoist cultivation. After following Xu Xun's teachings, Zeng Heng accompanied him during the ascension. Their former dwelling later became Zhenyang Temple. Xu Lie (courtesy name Daowei), orphaned in childhood, came to Xu Xun with his mother. During Xu Xun's ascension, when mother and son tearfully begged to follow, Xu Xun bestowed divine medicine enabling them to join the forty-two ascendants.

Shi Feng (courtesy name Dayu, childhood name Daoyi) frequently assisted Xu Xun in subduing demons. Xu Xun entrusted him with all Daoist scriptures before ascending. Some days after the ascension, Shi Feng saw a celestial youth holding a white silk edict emerge from the eastern sun, announcing the Zhenren's (Perfected Being's) summons, whereupon he ascended with the youth. Peng Kang resigned his official post during the Yongkang era to follow Xu Xun, who later married his eldest daughter to him. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the second year of the Yonghe era (346 CE), Peng Kang's entire household of twenty-six achieved daylight ascension, their former residence later becoming Zonghua Temple.

(Note: The term "ba zhai fei sheng" refers to the distinctively Daoist phenomenon where an adept's entire household and dwelling ascend together; "chi zhaijie" denotes observance of Daoist dietary and behavioral precepts; "fu shu" indicates talismanic magic for exorcism; "rushi dizi" refers to core disciples who receive a master's authentic transmission.)

Huang Fu (styled Yong, from Jinling) was recognized by Immortal Xu (Xu Xun) as having the potential for Daoist transcendence. Xu thus married his second daughter to Huang and transmitted profound Daoist methods to him. Later, while serving as an official in Qingzhou, Huang would ride a dragon home each night, though his family secretly observed it was actually a bamboo staff. He eventually ascended to immortality, and his former residence was converted into the Qi Xian Temple. Zhong Jia (styled Chao), the son of Xu's younger sister, lost his father in childhood and received essential Daoist techniques from his uncle. After Xu's ascension, Zhong ascended at noon on the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month riding a jade-green cloud chariot, with his former home becoming the Danling Temple. These accounts complete the records of the Twelve Perfected Lords.

Lou Shanqing sold red and white immortality elixirs in marketplaces without fixed prices, yet all who consumed his medicines were cured. He donated all proceeds to aid the poor. During the Wude era of the Tang dynasty, clouds suddenly rose beneath his feet at a Sichuan market, carrying him to daytime ascension. Wei Shanjun, another medicine-selling immortal, always kept a black dog companion. During Empress Wu Zetian's Ruyi reign period at Songshan's Shaolin Temple, when monks grew angry at him feeding the dog monastic food, he sprayed water from his mouth—transforming the black dog into a dark dragon that carried him skyward.

Female Daoist Bian Dongxuan experienced miraculous rejuvenation at eighty—her white hair turned black and new teeth grew. In the 27th year of Kaiyuan era, she ascended on colored clouds from Ziyun Temple in Jizhou. Lou Daohe achieved liberation from the corpse (a Daoist transcendence method where the immortal sheds their physical form) at Taiyi Temple in Bingzhou—his skull split open, leaving an empty shell like a cicada's molt.

Celestial Master Ye Fashan (styled Taisu) once guided Emperor Xuanzong of Tang on a moon palace tour, an event commemorated by Jia Song's poetic ode. Zhang Guolao answered the imperial summons from Hengzhou in spring of Kaiyuan 22, receiving the title "Master of Penetrating Mysteries" and an official post. That autumn he petitioned to return to Hengshan, departing with imperial gifts. His supernatural abilities included reportedly witnessing the Yellow River run clear nine times and consuming enormous quantities of wine without intoxication.

Xie Chongji, a Huashan Daoist priest, was passionately devoted to incense burning, maintaining three hundred censors burning perpetually day and night. When incense ran short, he substituted pine and cypress seeds as aromatic fuel.

In the second month of the third year of the Kaiping era during the Liang Dynasty, at dawn one morning, two azure-clad immortal youths descended on auspicious purple clouds to welcome Xie Chongji's celestial ascension. Mounting the clouds, Xie departed this earthly realm. Hou Daohua, a Daoist monk at the Daojing Temple on Zhongtiao Mountain, had become a disciple of the Celestial Master (Tianshi) Deng. When Master Deng completed his elixir but hesitated to consume it, Hou secretly ingested the Golden Elixir (Jindan) and achieved ascension in the fifth month of the fifth year of the Dazhong era—events faithfully recorded in Tang Dynasty historical texts.

Wang Kejiao, a native of Huating County, was born with luminous eyes that could pierce nighttime darkness as if it were day. Later, he cauterized acupuncture points behind his eyebrows with moxa, extinguishing this divine radiance. On the first day of the eleventh month in the tenth year of Xiantong era, while walking with neighbors by the river near Guhui market, he spotted an ornate pleasure boat where a youth called out: "Uncle Wang Wu requests your presence." Boarding the vessel, he found two or three Daoist priests playing chess. One remarked, "What a pity—your immortal bones were ruined by moxibustion," then gave him a chestnut tasting like jujube before sending him ashore with a promise to meet again in ten years. The moment his feet touched land, Wang found himself before the Waterfall Temple on Tiantai Mountain, discovering to his astonishment that the date had advanced to the twenty-seventh day of the eleventh month.

Li Guizhen, from Tiantai County, drank wine like water and wore unlined garments year-round. A master of ink wash painting, he would sketch magpies on any wall he encountered, though none realized he had already attained the Dao (Dao). In the eleventh month of the third year of Tianyou era, he ascended in broad daylight from Zhongtiao Mountain in Hezhong Prefecture, announcing: "I originally hailed from Tangxing County in Taizhou—my younger brother still lives there." Shedding his tattered hemp robe, he donned star-embroidered feathered vestments (immortal attire) and rose effortlessly as ethereal flute music echoed through the clouds.

Ma Zhen, a native of Yanguan County who styled himself "Natural," left poetic works behind. He roamed marketplaces in perpetual drunkenness, sleeping indiscriminately in snowbanks or deep pools. At the end of the Xiantong era, he ascended from a tavern in Zizhou, Sichuan. Meanwhile, the wife of Feng Hui, Assistant Governor of Hezhong, Lady Xue, cultivated the Dao (Dao) for over twenty years before achieving liberation from the corpse (shijie, a form of physical transcendence) in the third month of the third year of Zhonghe era. As thirty-six cranes descended upon her estate amidst swirling violet mists, her white hair miraculously darkened to jet black.