Verified Methods of the Reverted Elixir 稚川真人校证术

The author is unknown.

The text contains "The Golden Elixir Ballad of the True One Son (Peng Xiao)", indicating it was likely composed after the Five Dynasties period.

Consisting of one scroll, it is included in the Various Arts category of the Dongshen Section of The Daozang.

This work expounds the art of refining lead and mercury into the Golden Elixir. It is claimed that this art originated with Ge Xuan, Zheng Yin and Ge Hong, and was later passed down by an anonymous master to Cui the Yellow Turban, who taught it to Zhong Cheng of the West, Zhong Cheng to Dai Daoheng, and Dai Daoheng to the brothers Yang Xu. The alchemical method described in the text is known as the "Two Foundations and Four Transformations". The Two Foundations refer to the two essential medicinal ingredients for elixir refining: true lead and true mercury, with "the masculine being true lead and the feminine being true mercury". The Four Transformations denote the four stages of transmutation in elixir refining: the first transformation is named Fetal Formation by Borrowing and Clinging, the second Yin Substance and Yang Fetus, the third Six Spirits Subdue the Corpse, and the fourth Cinnabar Marrow Transforms the Form.

The general elixir refining procedure is as follows: combine the two medicines of masculine lead and feminine mercury in the central palaces, place them in a cauldron for fire nurturing, apply fire four times at the earthly branches of Yin, Shen, Si and Hai within the twelve double hours of a day, and refine for seven days to produce the precious elixir. It is claimed that ingestion grants immortality to humans, and "a chicken that eats it becomes a phoenix, a snake that consumes it transforms into a dragon".