The Celestial Purple Tenuity Army Sutra 太上说紫微神兵护国消魔经

The author is unknown. Judging from its content, it was likely compiled between the Tang and Song dynasties.

It consists of one scroll and is included in the Benwenlei (Scripture Text Category) of the Dongshenbu (Divine Grotto Section) in the Daozang (Taoist Canon).

Falsely attributed to the Supreme Lord delivering the discourse in the Purple Forbidden Upper Palace in the second year of the Shanghuang era, the scripture states that the celestial demons and ghosts from the six caverns of Fengdu perpetrated evils, plagues ran rampant, ghostly qi assailed humans, and the people suffered profound grief and misery.

The Supreme Lord issued a divine decree, commanding the two lunar mansions of Xu (Emptiness) and Wei (Peril) to manifest their essences and transform themselves, taking form as the God of Zhenwu. Leading heavenly troops and divine generals, Zhenwu descended upon Mount Fengdu to subdue the demons and ghosts, ridding the people of harm and bestowing boundless blessings and merits upon them. After accomplishing his meritorious deeds, Zhenwu was enfeoffed as the Heavenly General of the Mysterious Heaven, Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Pole. Based on the textual content, the myth of Zhenwu recorded in this scripture appears to predate The Scripture of the Divine Incantation of the Mysterious Heaven Great Sage Zhenwu’s Original Deeds, Preached by the Supreme Lord.