An ardent alchemy or finding immortality in the kitchen. This chapter analyzes late imperial Chinese vernacular narratives depicting the transmission of the Way to two Taoist female adepts, Sun Bu’er 孫不二 and He Xiangu 何仙姑 . By contrast with classical Chinese hagiographies, who kept those female taoists in secondary roles, the vernacular narratives show the two women becoming the first disciples of celebrated masters (Wang Zhe 王喆, Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓). But they are admitted to this exalted position only after mutilating or destroying their own bodies by burning it voluntarily: impressed by their fierce resolution, their masters will call them “true males among women” (nü zhong zhangfu 女中丈夫). Thus, while taking towards female adepts a more open stance than the classical hagiographies, the vernacular narratives continues to be wary of the female body, though admitting the possibility of an atypical way towards enlightenment for female adepts.