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Treats cold lao (consumption due to cold) leading to exhaustion of Qi and Blood, emaciation of flesh, retraction of the spine, loss of teeth, fatigue of limbs, and faintness of voice.

Wu Hegao stated: In every human body, there exists True Fire (Zhen Huo), residing in the right Kidney. It circulates through the San Jiao (Triple Burner), enters and exits the Gallbladder channel (Jia Dan), and obeys the command of the Heart (Tian Jun). Thus, it is this fire that warms the entire skeleton and limbs, nourishes the Zang-Fu organs, and fills the nine orifices. It is the father of all things; therefore, it is said: Without this fire, Heaven cannot generate living beings; without this fire, humans cannot maintain life. If this fire ceases for even a moment, it is like all things losing their father. Consequently, flesh becomes weak and emaciated, blood becomes weak and dry, bones become weak and teeth fall out, sinews become weak and limbs become fatigued, and Qi becomes weak and voice becomes faint.

Sulfur (one jin), Pig Large Intestine (two chi). Grind sulfur into powder, pack it into the pig intestine, boil for three shi (6 hours), remove, discard the intestine, mix with steamed bread dough to make pills the size of tung tree seeds. Take ten pills per dose, gradually increasing the amount. Those taking sulfur must avoid eating the blood of various poultry and beasts. This is a medicine for the Mingmen (Gate of Life) of the Foot-Shaoyin Kidney channel. Sulfur is the essence of fire, also known as the General, so it is used to tonify fire. Because it is extremely hot and toxic, it is boiled extensively in pig intestine to resolve its toxicity. Vulgar people fear it and rarely use it, likely unaware of its power to break pathogenic factors and return to righteousness, eliminate Yin and restore Yang, transform turbidity and generate spirit.

Dai Yuanli stated: All cooling medicines tend to cause stagnation, except for Coptis Rhizome (Huanglian), which is cold but not stagnant. All heating medicines tend to be drying, except for Sulfur (Liuhuang), which is hot but not drying. In cases of extreme deficiency of True Yang where Cinnamon Twig (Guizhi) and Aconite Root (Fuzi) cannot provide tonification, only Sulfur can. The Materia Medica calls it a miraculous medicine for saving critical conditions, and Daoists use it for ingestion, honoring it as Golden Liquid Pill (Jinye Dan). Indeed, it is something people can take regularly. Moreover, Niter (Xiaosha) and Sulfur are one Yin and one Yang, both being similar substances. Today, people only know how to use Mirabilite (Mangxiao) but dare not use Sulfur, showing that modern people are inferior to the ancients.

Treats lao heat causing bone-steaming tidal fever, slight emaciation of the four limbs, sweating, and a long pulse.

The syndrome of lao heat does not exclusively belong to Yin deficiency; it can also result from Yang pathogens entering the interior, transforming into bone-steaming, causing initial chills followed by fever, and gradually leading to emaciation. Sweating indicates excess heat in the Stomach. A long pulse indicates a Yangming syndrome.

Gypsum (Shigao), finely ground. Each evening, mix with fresh well water and take one fangcun qi (approx. 2-3 grams) orally. Continue until the fever subsides. This is a medicine for the Foot-Yangming Stomach channel. Gypsum is extremely cold and heavy in texture, capable of entering the interior to descend fire; its acrid taste and light aroma allow it to penetrate the exterior and relieve muscle tension. Although cold, its sweet flavor can moderate the Spleen and benefit Qi. For patients with fire-related lao and excess heat, no other medicine achieves such efficacy. Therefore, it is recorded in *Waitai Miyao* and *Mingyi Lu*. *Xuanzhu* states: Among the Five Elements and Six Qi, Water is merely one aspect. Once Kidney Water is deficient, how can it overcome the five Fires? Physicians who do not realize that pathogenic factors have not been eliminated and instead use tonic agents allow the pathogens to gain strength from the tonics, penetrating the meridians until death without realization. Cooling agents clear fire and nourish Water; heating agents tonify fire and dry Water. The principle is easy to understand. Lao disease is clearly a heat syndrome; can tonification still be applied? Only in individuals without heat or accumulation, with a faint and forceless pulse, can tonification be considered. One must carefully verify that the fire in the Stomach and the Mingmen fire in the right Kidney are truly deficient before using tonic agents.

The harm caused by lao zhai (chronic consumption disease) stems from the depletion of Qi and Blood. Insufficiency of Blood leads to disaster from fire/heat; insufficiency of Qi leads to harm from Yin/cold. Only by regulating and tonifying Qi and Blood will the cold and heat symptoms naturally level out. However, herbs are unfeeling; thus, sages strictly warned against the use of extremely cold and extremely hot medicines. How much more so for mineral drugs, which are drying and fierce, should they be tried frequently! These two formulas of extremely cold and extremely hot mineral drugs are preserved here merely to broaden knowledge.