At that time the Heavenly Worthy was in the land of Chanli with the true immortals of the Great Tao and myriads upon myriads of spirits of the great chiliocosm. The Heavenly Worthies and all the dragons, ghosts, and spirits of the heavens all came to assemble and receive my instructions. If in the world there are good men and good women who suffer the calamities of the year and the distresses of the month; the distress of the red rat roaming the city; the distress of the net of heaven and snare of earth; the distress of life exhausted and reckoning ended; the distress of lingering illness; the distress of falling into the water and waves; the distress of tigers, wolves, vipers, and snakes; water, fire, robbers, and thieves; the distress of war and of childbirth; the distress of mountain forests, trees, and the altars of soil and grain; the distress of earth, stone, and bridges; the distress of poison and curses—may they now, before the Jade Emperor Heavenly Worthy and the true sages of the Great Tao, repent, and have the calamities and distresses in their bodies averted and removed. Let each one be dispersed, with no hindrance left. I command the spirit kings of all the heavens to send down together their holy power and the power of the Tao, and by the power and grace of this scripture to guard and protect the disciple. After receiving, upholding, and reciting this scripture, the calamities of the yang nine and the hundred and six, and the distresses of the three declines and eight hardships, the nine untimely deaths and the five sufferings, are averted. Whatever they seek will be granted; wherever they tread will be safe; in going out and coming in, in acting and in withdrawing, whatever benefit they seek and whatever they wish will be as their hearts desire. Thereupon the assembly, hearing this scripture spoken, all rejoiced greatly, believed, received it, and practiced it.