《黃帝九鼎神丹經訣》Vol. 14

This passage primarily elucidates the miraculous properties and origins of realgar (a mineral medicinal substance).

Realgar is formed from orpiment after eight thousand years of transformation, and after another thousand years, it turns into gold. It is revered as the "Emperor's Male Essence" and "Perfected Being's Sustenance," being the most extraordinary mineral. Consuming realgar prevents tooth loss, keeps hair from turning white, strengthens tendons and bones, lightens the body, and brightens the eyes. It can also repel tigers and wolves, ward off various poisons, make one fearless against aquatic dragons and other venomous creatures, and even deflect weapon injuries. Realgar enhances human perception, enables command over various spirits, and serves as a crucial ingredient for immortality.

The text recounts a legend: When the Yellow Emperor sought to ascend Mount Yuanqiu (renowned for its abundance of snakes), Guangchengzi (a Daoist immortal) instructed him to carry realgar, whereupon all snakes avoided him—demonstrating realgar's potent efficacy. Among the essential elixirs of the immortals, realgar is an indispensable component.

Regarding its medicinal value: realgar treats febrile diseases, ulcers, hemorrhoids, skin conditions, eye pain, nasal polyps, and various other ailments. It expels pathogenic influences, kills venomous insects, and even imparts a rosy complexion. When properly refined and ingested, it renders the body light as a swallow's and extends lifespan.

The finest realgar originates from the valleys of Wudu and the sunlit slopes of Dunhuang Mountain (in present-day Gansu region), with premium quality exhibiting a cockscomb-red hue, being odorless and hard. Dark-colored or soft varieties are inferior. In ancient times, Dunhuang belonged to western Liangzhou, where realgar was so precious it equaled gold in value. Now with national unity, treasures from all regions can be unearthed, and the Wudu mountain area also produces high-quality realgar.

This scripture primarily discusses the refining methods and precautions for realgar (a mineral medicinal substance).

It first mentions that when mountain collapses expose realgar veins, the naturally revealed realgar shines like the sun. However, the realgar transported to the capital is often of poor quality because it was not properly selected during transportation, resulting in inferior realgar being mixed with ordinary stones for sale. Truly high-quality realgar should be pure red and translucent.

The text then details the detoxification refining methods for realgar: although realgar is a crucial ingredient for crafting elixirs of immortality, it is highly toxic in its raw state and must undergo special treatment before use. Ordinary fire burning alone cannot fully remove its toxicity—it must first be refined through liquid processing. There are two specific methods:

The first is the wine immersion method: select ten jin of premium realgar, remove impurities, and crush it into small pieces or powder. Soak it repeatedly in high-quality wine in a bronze vessel until two dan of wine have been used. Afterwards, boil it in oil, then pulverize it for medicinal use. If taken alone, pack the realgar powder into a bamboo tube, seal it with rock salt (mineral salt), and bury it in sand to steam for seven days and nights. Successfully refined realgar transforms into "Purple Palace Flying Elixir," which can be mixed with honey to form pill-sized beans for long-term consumption.

The second is the vinegar boiling method: take one jin of high-quality realgar, grind it into powder, and simmer it in specially prepared bitter wine (not ordinary vinegar) in a bronze vessel over low heat until one dan of bitter wine has been used, reducing it to a glue-like consistency. Then pack it into a bamboo tube and steam for a full day and night. When the steam turns bluish-red, remove it, stretch it into threads in water, and finally form it into pill-sized beads resembling phoenix tree seeds to be taken before meals.

The text particularly emphasizes that ordinary fire burning cannot truly eliminate realgar’s toxicity—only these specialized liquid refining processes can render it safe for use.

This passage describes several secret methods used by ancient Daoist priests for refining realgar (an arsenic-containing mineral medicine), primarily categorized into three applications: internal elixirs, longevity elixir preparation, and metal transformation.

Regarding internal elixir preparation: Combine one jin of realgar with two jin of raw lacquer, specifically selecting green-colored lacquer. After boiling and filtering out impurities, stir the mixture in a bronze vessel until fully integrated to form medicinal pellets. Take three millet-sized pellets daily on an empty stomach, swallowing the medicinal liquid, or one small bean-sized pellet daily. After fourteen days, this can cure all ailments; twenty days will shed dead skin and grant night vision as clear as daylight—alternating sensations of cold and heat indicate the medicine's efficacy. After one hundred days, internal organs strengthen; after three hundred days, gradually increase dosage to three millet-sized pellets. The author emphasizes that though called "minor elixir" (xiao dan), its effects surpass other minerals and herbs, serving to fortify bone marrow before achieving the "great elixir" (da dan).

The longevity elixir method requires selecting fine realgar powder with radiant red hue, sealed in a new ceramic jar with wine and boiled in a water bath for one hundred days. The optimal technique involves boiling both wine and medicine jar together in a pot. Alternatively, soak realgar in spring wine, changing the wine every ten days for one hundred days.

For metal transformation: Choose premium realgar with rooster-comb redness, boil in pure vinegar within a bronze vessel for one hundred days. The standard test is achieving "subdued fire" (fuhuo, meaning heating without smoke)—success enables instant metal transformation.

The detoxification oil-boiling method: Select choice rooster-comb red realgar, remove stony veins, and crush to chess-piece sized fragments. First process with wine for sufficient time, then boil continuously in oil for nine days and nights. Monitor fire intensity vigilantly—excessive heat risks oil combustion, while insufficient heat fails to disperse toxicity. Cover the oil pot with ceramic to maintain temperature, filter while hot after completing the boiling period.

This scripture primarily describes three specific alchemical methods: the steaming and refining of realgar, pine resin, and orpiment.

Regarding the realgar refining method: First place the realgar into a new earthenware vessel, wrapping the jar with half-inch thick sweet soil clay. After drying it by baking, cover the jar mouth with clean material. Then fashion a clay container resembling a jar using yellow clay, filling it with white sand and compacting firmly. Invert the realgar-containing jar onto this clay container, plugging its mouth with tangled hair, laying paper over the sand and securing with small iron nails. Once the apparatus dries, pack horse manure around it and ignite the fire from top to bottom. After cooling for one full day and night, use tongs to remove the jar, then drill holes in its mouth to pour out the medicinal liquid. The resulting elixir can be used to craft various ritual implements with demon-dispelling properties.

The text further mentions that properly refined realgar can be ingested directly: first grind and sift it, then subject it to "three cycles of snow steaming" for three days before mixing with white honey to form pill-sized pellets. Take three pills daily. It can also be combined with refined pine resin for consumption, helping to expel the "three worms" (Daoist term for three harmful substances within the body) and achieve longevity effects.

The pine resin refining method requires repeated boiling in mulberry ash or limewater until all bitterness is completely removed.

Finally, the orpiment refining method is essentially the same as realgar's, though according to the Materia Medica, their medicinal properties differ. Notably, orpiment serves as an indispensable ingredient when refining important elixirs.

This scripture describes the properties and uses of orpiment (a mineral medicinal substance). Orpiment has a sweet and pungent taste, a neutral nature but with toxicity. It can treat malignant sores, baldness, tinea, scabies and other skin diseases, kill poisonous insects and lice, and relieve bodily itching and invasion of pathogenic Qi (vital energy). It also treats nasal polyps, genital ulcers, vitiligo, dissolves necrotic muscle tissue, and addresses symptoms of mental confusion caused by pathogenic influences. When refined and ingested, it can make the body light, prolong life, preserve youthfulness, and clarify the mind.

Orpiment deposits usually coexist with realgar (another mineral medicine) on the shaded slopes of Wudu mountain valleys where gold mines are located. The essence of gold mines, when sublimated, produces orpiment which can be mined at any time. Orpiment from Wudu Qiuchi appears reddish, while that from Funan Linyi is called "genuine Kunlun yellow" - golden in color with a mica-like texture and interwoven grain patterns, prized by painters. However, alchemists mostly use orpiment together with realgar in sublimation processes, as their classification as "female and male" follows the principle of Yin-Yang mutual generation.

Usage notes: Only Wudu-produced orpiment is considered highest quality, and specimens with white, hard veins running through their center should be selected as premium grade. This content comes from the fourteenth scroll of the Yellow Emperor's Nine Tripod Divine Elixir Scripture Formulas, recording ancient alchemical knowledge and application methods regarding this mineral substance.