Immortal Seal
When heaven and earth first took shape, the Great Dao was yet unordered. Now, the immortals together establish the Divine List, to set the order of the cosmos, raise the Celestial Court in the Nine Heavens, found the Netherworld Palace, and confer titles upon gods across all realms. Among them is Qingyuan, a humble acolyte beneath the Purple Dawn Gate, whose fate is meager, whose fortune is thin, and who was born without immortal roots. Yet, with unwavering devotion to the Way, he descends to the mortal world. In this tale, there is no Hongjun, no Three Pure Ones, no Ziya, no Erlang, nor Nezha—what unfolds here is another story of the Investiture of the Gods.
Immortal Seal
White clouds drifted gently, immortal mists shrouded the heavens. Beyond the thirty-three celestial realms, ninety-nine palatial halls stood. Deep within these heavens, in the Purple Cloud Palace, the alchemy chamber glowed.
Inside the chamber, flames cast swathes of crimson light, heat surging like waves, fiercely scorching. At the center rested a pill furnace, beneath which the diagram of the Eight Trigrams was inscribed. Upon the furnace, eight fire dragons, lifelike and vivid, spewed flames from their mouths, positioned at each of the eight cardinal points, corresponding to the trigrams Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, and Dui.
Though all eight dragons bore similar forms—scarlet scales, whiskers flowing as if alive—their flames differed. One breathed celestial fire, another stone fire, one summoned wood flame, another conjured the fire of samadhi; one wielded the fire of the heavens, one the fire from the earth’s depths, another exhaled mortal fire, and the last radiated the pure, natural flames of the five elements.
These eight kinds of fire converged at the furnace, collaborating through the Eight Dragon Immortal Furnace to forge the flames within.
Beside the furnace stood a young Daoist, about fifteen or sixteen, his features refined and gentle, the aura of the Way radiating from him. He was one of the immortal’s attendants, named Qingyuan.
The immortal of Purple Cloud Palace accepted no disciples, only Daoist attendants, allowing free passage; those who wished to enter became attendants, those who wished to leave departed freely.
