The Zuo Ci 左慈

Zuo Ci, styled Yuanfang, was a native of Lujiang (now part of Anhui Province) during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the early Three Kingdoms period.

According to "Biography of Zuo Ci" in The Book of the Later Han, he was fond of Daoist arts from a young age. He resided in Mount Tianzhu, where he obtained the alchemical scriptures from a stone chamber and the magical arts of the Six Jia. He was well-versed in the Five Classics and astrology, capable of commanding ghosts and spirits, and summoning a traveling kitchen (a magical feast) with a mere gesture. He could transform into a perch, become invisible and escape, and was also knowledgeable in the techniques of sexual cultivation and replenishment.

He was repeatedly hated and targeted for killing by Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Sun Ce, but he managed to escape each time. Later, he took refuge with Sun Quan, who had long known of his Daoist arts and treated him with great respect.

In his later years, he entered Mount Huo, concocted the Nine-Transmutation Elixir, and became an immortal before departing.

He once imparted three volumes of Taiqing Alchemical Scriptures, one volume each of Nine Cauldrons Alchemical Scriptures and Golden Liquid Alchemical Scriptures to Ge Xuan, laying the foundation for the alchemy-based Daoist methods of the Wei and Jin dynasties. (Source: Records of the Three Kingdoms: Records of Wei and Baopuzi: Inner Chapters)