Miao Shan ate the magic peach, took leave of Ju Lai, and started on the way to Hsiang Shan.  From the clouds the Spirit of the North Star saw her wending her way painfully toward P’u T’o.  He called the Guardian of the Soil of Hsiang Shan and said to him:  “Miao Shan is on her way to your country; the way is long and difficult.  Do you take the form of a tiger, and carry her to her journey’s end.”

The t’u-ti transformed himself into a tiger and stationed himself in the middle of the road along which Miao Shan must pass, giving vent to ferocious roars.

“I am a poor girl devoid of filial piety,” said Miao Shan when she came up.  “I have disobeyed my father’s commands; devour me, and make an end of me.”

The tiger then spoke, saying:  “I am not a real tiger, but the Guardian of the Soil of Hsiang Shan.  I have received instructions to carry you there.  Get on my back.”

“Since you have received these instructions,” said the girl, “I will obey, and when I have attained to perfection I will not forget your kindness.”

The tiger went off like a flash of lightning, and in the twinkling of an eye Miao Shan found herself at the foot of the rocky slopes of P’u T’o Island.

Miao Shan attains to Perfection

After nine years in this retreat Miao Shan had reached the acme of perfection.  Ti-tsang Wang then came to Hsiang Shan, and was so astonished at her virtue that he inquired of the local t’u-ti as to what had brought about this wonderful result.  “With the exception of Ju Lai, in all the west no one equals her in dignity and perfection.  She is the Queen of the three thousand P’u-sa’s and of all the beings on earth who have skin and blood.  We regard her as our sovereign in all things.  Therefore, on the nineteenth day of the eleventh moon we will enthrone her, that the whole world may profit by her beneficence.”

The t’u-ti sent out his invitations for the ceremony.  The Dragon-king of the Western Sea, the Gods of the Five Sacred Mountains, the Emperor-saints to the number of one hundred and twenty, the thirty-six officials of the Ministry of Time, the celestial functionaries in charge of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, the Three Causes, the Five Saints, the Eight Immortals, the Ten Kings of the Hells—­all were present on the appointed day.  Miao Shan took her seat on the lotus-throne, and the assembled gods proclaimed her sovereign of Heaven and earth, and a Buddha.  Moreover, they decided that it was not meet that she should remain alone at Hsiang Shan; so they begged her to choose a worthy young man and a virtuous damsel to serve her in the temple.

The t’u-ti was entrusted with the task of finding them.  While making search, he met a young priest named Shan Ts’ai.  After the death of his parents he had become a hermit on Ta-hua Shan, and was still a novice in the science of perfection.