Penglai

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Penglai (蓬萊) 23
Alias(es)	Penglai Daoist Sect; Daoist Sect Penglai; East Sea Penglai; Eastern Heaven Daoist Sect Penglai; Penglai Heaven Realm 58 470 792
Affiliation	Eastern Heaven Daoism / Eastern Heaven Daoist Sect 792 1358
Occupation/Role	A Pure Yang Mystic Gate Holy Land, the foremost Mystic Gate holy land of the Eastern Domain, and later the leading Mystic Gate sacred land of Eastern Heaven Daoism in the Three Realms 158 792 798
Status	Active 1410
First Appearance	Chapter 23

Background / History

Penglai was founded in the East Sea by the Penglai Dao Lord, who used supreme magic power to lift three immortal islands from the sea and suspend them in the sky. Later generations fortified and reshaped the islands with layered formations, creating its hidden immortal domain. 58

The sect has existed for roughly forty thousand years and accumulated records, cultivation methods, divine abilities, and accounts of other realms from across the Great Thousand World. 654 By the Mountain and River era, it was one of the three Mystic Gate Holy Lands and the dominant holy land of the Eastern Domain Continent. Its inheritance includes techniques capable of reaching Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation, while its deepest methods extend into the Upper Three Realms. 158

Recorded Generation	Patriarch
Founding Ancestor	Penglai Dao Lord 123
Third Generation	Shang Yang Dao Lord 123
Fourth Generation	Qing Yan Dao Lord 123
Fifth Generation	Wei Yu Dao Lord 123
Sixth Generation	De Jing Dao Lord 123
Seventh Generation	Jing Xuan Dao Lord 123
Eighth Generation	Xuan Ming Dao Lord 123

Penglai's Three Isles each rival a Small Thousand World in size. Although the sect is renowned as a group of three immortal islands, the true islands have become hidden between illusion and reality, making them extremely difficult for outsiders to locate. 467 761

During the Ten Thousand Year Tribulation, Penglai succeeded Tian Shu True Person and Dao Kong True Person’s generation with Ling Wei as Sect Master and Jiang Sheng / Ling Yuan as Tian Xuan Peak Master and Deputy Sect Master. The succession was witnessed by projections of the sect’s True Lords. 326

Jiang Sheng was a thirteenth-generation true disciple of Penglai and became the seal-bearing elder of Tian Xuan Peak after the transfer of authority. His position placed him in charge of disciple advancement and external affairs, while also making him the sect master’s principal deputy. 326 329 Later, Ling Yu presided over Tian Xuan Peak, while Ling Wei remained Sect Master. 792

Penglai issued a temporary decree of non-involvement in external affairs as calamity qi rose across the Eastern Domain. The sect’s patriarchs instructed its disciples to avoid interfering in outside affairs and allowed Great Tang’s fate to develop on its own. This policy did not prevent individual true disciples from acting independently or Penglai from later directing large-scale wars. 194 253

Penglai’s conflict with the Three Seas Dragon Palaces culminated in the execution of East Sea Crown Prince Ao Bing and a siege of the sect’s main islands. Penglai’s affiliated islands, retired Dharma Idol True Persons, elders, and disciples reinforced the defense; afterward, its disciples cleared rebellious Water Race forces throughout the East Sea. 354 357 360 During the counteroffensive, Ling Yuan slew South Sea Crown Prince Liuyu with two sword strikes and carved out a ten-thousand-li area that no aquatic clansman dared enter. 360

Following the merger of the Three Realms, Qing Yan Dao Lord attained the Heavenly Venerate Divine Rank, and the Penglai Immortal Realm was elevated into the Penglai Heaven Realm. The realm was also described as the Penglai Xuming Heavenly Realm under the authority of Eastern Heaven. 470 880

Penglai later became one of the chief powers of the Eastern Heaven Daoist Sect, alongside Qinghua and Tianhe. These three lineages formed the principal Daoist strength of the Three Realms Great Thousand World and together represented a major portion of the Mystic Gate’s power. 792 798

During the Xuanmen Great Calamity, Penglai and its affiliated forces fought across multiple worlds and regions. Its armies later invaded the Eastern Region of Yanzhou, fielding more than thirty million Daoist Soldiers against One Dao Palace and the Qiankun Dao Sect. 1047 After the calamity, Penglai emerged as one of Eastern Heaven’s principal pillars, while Tianhe Dao Sect eventually recovered enough to stand on the same level as Penglai and Qinghua. 1259

In the current era, Penglai continues to recruit and cultivate enormous numbers of gifted disciples. Its grand competition gathered approximately one million disciples, returned True Lords and Dragon Monarchs to the sect, and selected candidates for the next generation of true transmission. 1410 1414 Jiang Sheng and Xuanche Immortal Monarch later selected thirteen additional True Disciple candidates according to combat ability, cultivation arts, battlefield utility, temperament, and political judgment. 1447 1459

Power Progression

Period	Institutional Power and Development
Founding era	The Penglai Dao Lord raised the Three Isles from the Eastern Sea and established the sect’s immortal domain. 58 123
Forty-thousand-year accumulation	Penglai developed into a colossal sect with extensive scriptures, cultivation methods, affiliated islands, external estates, and records of other worlds. 112 654
Mountain and River era	Penglai became the Mystic Gate’s foremost holy land in the Eastern Domain Continent, with inheritances reaching the Upper Three Realms. 158
Mature Mystic Gate era	The Three Isles, thirty-six affiliated islands, eighteen peaks, and numerous external stations supported a sect capable of accommodating tens of millions of beings. 112 117 123
Three Realms merger	Qing Yan Dao Lord attained the Heavenly Venerate rank and Penglai was elevated into the Penglai Heaven Realm. 470
Eastern Heaven era	Penglai became one of the three principal branches of Eastern Heaven Daoism and the foremost Mystic Gate sacred land recognized across the heavens and myriad worlds. 792 798
Xuanmen Great Calamity	Penglai deployed large fleets, affiliated Daoist Soldiers, and Upper Three Realms cultivators across multiple worlds, becoming a principal force in Eastern Heaven’s wars. 1047 1105 1244
Current era	Penglai possesses immense resources, a vast network of estates and affiliated powers, and a million-scale body of carefully selected disciples. Its grand competition is intended to prepare the sect’s future True Disciple candidates and pillars. 1410 1414 1421 1459

Territory & Important Locations

Location	Description
Penglai Sea Realm	A hidden East Sea sea realm, difficult for outsiders to perceive, containing the Penglai Three Islands. 792
Penglai Three Islands	The sect’s core territory: three immense suspended islands surrounded by cloud seas, heavenly water, waterfalls, palaces, and formations. Each island rivals a Small Thousand World in size. 58 761 792
Penglai Grotto-Heaven	The sect’s inner grotto-heaven, normally hidden and later openly manifesting above the Three Isles after the Three Realms stabilized. It is concealed between illusion and reality and serves as one of Penglai’s highest-level cultivation domains. 467 761
Tian Shu Peak	The main island’s three-thousand-zhang sect peak; its summit houses the main hall and ancestral hall. It is the seat of the Sect Master and the location of major ceremonies and assemblies. 58 123 326
Tian Xuan Peak	One of Penglai’s principal administrative peaks, responsible for disciple promotion, external relations, and stipends. Jiang Sheng became its seal-bearing elder before Ling Yu later presided over it. 329 792
The Eighteen Peaks	Penglai’s three islands contain eighteen major peaks, including the Northern Dipper’s seven peaks on the main island. In the earlier era, the eighteen peaks corresponded to the eighteen active Spirit Transformation True Persons of the sect. 117
Daoist Scripture Pavilion	A pavilion on an inverted mountain behind Tian Shu Peak, holding scriptures, techniques, arts, histories, and studies across numerous disciplines. 117
Yuanjiao Island	A thousand-li island eight thousand li from the East Sea coast; it appears once every hundred years and serves as the site of Penglai’s entrance examinations. 58 158
Thirty-Six Affiliated Islands	East Sea islands affiliated with Penglai that can provide cultivator and Dharma Idol-level reinforcements. Many developed from the descendants and disciples of Penglai cultivators. 123 357 761
Penglai Estates	External branches that extend Penglai’s influence into distant continents and worlds, including the estates of Eastern Victory Divine Continent, East Jiuxuan Continent, Dixuan World, and the Central Region of Xuanhuang. 156 1414 1216
Penglai Estate of Xuanhuang	A large immortal sect complex in the Central Region of Xuanhuang, expanded across more than ten mountain ranges and serving as a major protector of the local human population. 1216
Little Penglai	A Penglai immortal realm in the South Sea’s Flowing Jade Sea Realm, comprising 108 islands under Jiang Sheng’s authority. The realm spans approximately twelve million li in every direction. 538
Little Penglai Island	The core island of the Little Penglai Immortal Realm and Jiang Sheng’s cultivation ground. Its main island and five subsidiary islands span roughly a million li, while the complete realm contains 108 inner and outer islands. 467 538
Little Penglai’s grand formation	Jiang Sheng rearranged the islands according to the Eight Trigrams and Five Elements, connecting their earth veins and spirit veins and drawing the core island into the boundary between illusion and reality. 538 539 540
South Sea Heavenly Gate stronghold	Penglai’s six-island stronghold in the South Sea, called Little Penglai, used during the construction of the passage into Panfeng World. It possessed five sixth-rank spirit veins and extensive artifact-forging facilities. 377 378

Organization

Position / Group	Known Details
Sect Master	Ling Wei is Penglai’s current Sect Master True Person. His cultivation has been delayed by the burden of managing the sect, though he remains the central authority of Penglai. 792 1411 1414
Sect Patriarchs and Daoist Lords	The sect’s patriarchs and Daoist Lords suppress Penglai’s destiny and oversee its highest inheritances. Daoist Lords Dejing, Xuanming, Jingxuan, and others have appeared in connection with the sect’s major decisions and ceremonies. 161 326 1414
Tian Xuan Peak leadership	Ling Yu later presided over Tian Xuan Peak and handled many sect affairs, making her comparable to a deputy sect leader. 792
Other peak masters	Lin Fan, Lingyan, and Lingxuan govern other major peaks and administrative functions of the sect. 792
True Disciples	Penglai’s core successors; their emissary jade pendants bear the design of the Three Islands and Seven Peaks. True disciples develop individual paths while retaining the sect’s common foundation of pure and upright spiritual energy. 634 764
Thirteenth-generation true disciples	Ling Yuan/Jiang Sheng and Ling Wei belong to the thirteenth generation of Penglai’s true disciples. Their generation inherited authority from the preceding Dao generation. 326 329
True Disciple candidates	The grand competition selects candidates for true transmission. Jiang Sheng and Xuanche later added one candidate each from the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation realms, bringing the total to thirteen candidates. 1410 1447 1459
Sect Elders	Elders use jade pendants engraved with Cloud Palace peaks. They oversee disciples, external stations, trials, ceremonies, and sect administration. 634
Upper Three Realms cultivators	True Lords receive Azure Heaven Three Islands jade pendants. Penglai has more than one hundred True Lords in addition to its Pure Yang Daoist Lords. 559 634
Patriarch	The sect patriarch bears a jade pendant marked with an Auspicious Mist and Radiant Light Cave Heaven diagram. 634
Trial overseers	Twelve Golden Core cultivators are responsible for supervising disciple selection, while sect elders also attend. 158
Deity Transformation leadership	Eighteen Deity Transformation True Persons attended a sect council on Tian Shu Peak in the earlier era. 194
Daoist Soldiers	Penglai trains and fields large numbers of Daoist Soldiers. Its forces included more than thirty million soldiers during the Eastern Region war, while Little Penglai later supported approximately one hundred thousand Daoist Soldiers and the clans of Jiang Sheng’s disciples. 727 1047
Affiliated sects, estates, and clans	Penglai’s affiliated islands, estates, dependent sects, and disciple families extend its authority beyond the Three Isles and supply cultivators, resources, and military support. 112 123 727
Grand competition officials	Ling Wei presided over the grand competition, Daoist Lord Dejing oversaw it, and the grotto-heaven’s formation spirit Lord Shangqing managed the randomized matches and arenas. 1414 1416

Recruitment & Education

Penglai recruits disciples through Yuanjiao Island. Candidates must sail across the East Sea alone; reaching Yuanjiao counts as the first test, and flying across the eight-thousand-li route is forbidden. 158

The island normally appears only once every hundred years, drawing cultivators from throughout the Eastern Domain and even from other continents. Candidates must cross the stormy sea without relying on flight, and only those who locate Yuanjiao are considered to have passed the first trial. 58 158

The formal entrance trials are:

1. Immortal Ascension Bridge
2. Heart-Questioning Road
3. Heaven Gate Pass

Passing all three grants Outer Disciple status. 58 158 At one recorded initiation ceremony, more than twelve thousand entrants took Penglai’s precepts and paid respects to the founding ancestor and former Pure Yang Dao Lords before being addressed as inner disciples. 161

Penglai recruits no fewer than ten thousand disciples every century. Even Violet Palace cultivators must undergo its entrance trials and begin from the lower ranks. 158 245 The sect’s external estates also identify and cultivate promising disciples before sending the most outstanding candidates to the main sect. 1413

The sect’s selection standard is exceptionally high. Its disciples are drawn from cultivators chosen from among immense populations of middle worlds and great-thousand continents, and even those who fail its trials are often talented cultivators with significant fortune and opportunities. 1421

Curriculum

Penglai’s teachings are deliberately broad, covering cultivation methods, divine abilities, sword arts, pills, formations, talismans, artifact crafting, historical records, and practical studies. 117 559

• Cultivation methods and divine abilities are prioritized alongside sword dao. 559
• Penglai’s lineage emphasizes cultivating both nature and life, training the body as well as the spirit. 24
• Disciples are trained broadly so they can recognize opposing methods and respond to crises outside the sect. 559
• Its library preserves scripture collections vast enough that even ordinary Golden Core cultivators may lose themselves within them. 117
• The sect’s resources and Dao Lord-backed destiny make it unusually capable of accommodating disciples with exceptional fortune or tribulation ties. 161
• New disciples receive basic robes and undergo formal initiation before being assigned duties and cultivation resources. 161
• Exceptional disciples may be selected for peak inheritances, personal instruction, or candidate status for true transmission. 117 1459

Grand Competition

Penglai’s grand competition is a sect-wide selection event held in a specially constructed grotto-heaven. Approximately one million disciples participate, divided into Lower Three Realms and Middle Three Realms groups. The event is observed by Penglai’s True Lords, patriarchs, returning elders, Dragon Monarchs, affiliated estates, and dependent powers. 1410 1414

The competition includes:

• Combat rankings for the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation realms.
• Randomly assigned matches supervised by the formation spirit Lord Shangqing.
• Separate terrain-based arenas including forests, rivers, ice fields, volcanoes, and sandstorms.
• Contests in alchemy, talisman crafting, artifact refinement, formations, spirit planting, beast taming, painting, qin, Go, and other cultivation arts.
• Assessments of character, comprehension, adaptability, and administrative potential.
• Overall rankings combining combat and non-combat performance. 1416 1421 1422 1430

The top ten overall disciples become candidates for true transmission, with the competition offering a reported seventy-percent chance of reaching Void Refinement for those selected. The rewards include access to special grotto-heavens, true treasure fragments, Xuanhuang Qi, and guidance from True Lords and Immortal Monarchs. 1410 1413

Jiang Sheng offered Yuchen Tokens and later created additional True Disciple candidate positions to give more talented disciples a path into the sect’s higher inheritance. He and Xuanche Immortal Monarch selected Ding Chan, Gu Yuanhai, and Qian Yun for their battlefield utility, reliability, extraordinary divine abilities, and political tact rather than combat ranking alone. 1419 1447 1459

Arts & Specialties

Sword Dao and Cultivation Techniques

Penglai disciples are expected to possess foundational sword and talisman skills, while the sect places particular emphasis on techniques, divine abilities, and sword dao. 559

• Penglai’s lineage values purity and uprightness of origin, refining spiritual energy until it transforms into truth. 764
• Its disciples may develop different personal paths, but their methods retain the common foundation of Penglai Daoism. 764
• The sect’s sword inheritance includes the Seven Tribulations Dragon-Slaying Art, a profound sword method preserved in the Dao Repository Pavilion. 1420
• The revised Seven Tribulations Dragon-Slaying Formula can penetrate powerful body-tempering methods and includes the fifth sword, Dragon-Shocking Shadow Sweep. 1433
• Jiang Sheng’s Heaven Severing Sword Art and Supreme Unity Azure Duckweed Sword became especially feared during Penglai’s later wars. 1174
• Penglai’s current sword inheritance produced exceptional disciples such as Xiao Jingyue, recognized as the Golden Core Realm’s finest sword, and Pei Jinglian, the Spirit Transformation Realm’s Nether Lotus Sword Ghost. 1419 1413
• Penglai’s disciples also study body-tempering arts, including methods capable of producing bodies comparable to supreme treasures. 24 1419

Talisman Making

Penglai Spiritual Talismans are renowned throughout the Eastern Domain Continent. 23

• Penglai-made talismans command prices roughly thirty percent above ordinary talismans. 38
• The Penglai lineage is considered among the Mountain and River Realm’s best in talisman making. 741
• Penglai Ling Yuan is publicly recognized as a talisman-making master in the heavens. 1358
• Talisman crafting is one of the two foundational cultivation arts emphasized in the sect’s grand competition, alongside pill refining. 1421 1422
• Penglai’s internal seal scripts and the wider Eastern Heaven seal scripts are used in talisman-making, artifact refinement, arrays, and spellcasting. 1410

Pill Refining

Penglai is also known for pill refining, a core specialty of its lineage. 741

• Pill refining is taught alongside talismans, arrays, artifacts, and cultivation techniques. 117 559
• Penglai’s alchemy and talisman traditions are later recognized as top-tier among the Eastern Heaven Daoist Sect. 1358
• Its grand competition attracts alchemical prodigies selected from immense populations, with disciples competing to refine pills of exceptional quality. 1421
• Alchemy and talisman crafting are important components of the overall rankings used to select future true disciples. 1422 1430

Formations, Intelligence, and War Assets

The Penglai Three Islands are guarded by layered formations and concealed through illusion techniques. 58

• Tian Quan Peak maintains intelligence sufficient to monitor the affairs of Deity Transformation-level forces across the Eastern Domain. 196
• The sect can conceal its islands between illusion and reality and control access through Yuanqiao and other spatial passages. 58 761
• Penglai mobilized array masters and Divine Machine practitioners from across the Eastern Domain for major construction projects. 377
• Its South Sea Heavenly Gate stronghold assembled large numbers of artifact refiners, formation masters, and Divine Mechanism practitioners from across multiple continents. 377 378
• Jiang Sheng reorganized Little Penglai according to an Eight Trigrams and Five Elements formation, linking its islands through continuous earth veins and spirit veins. 538 539
• The completed Little Penglai formation concealed the core island within the boundary between illusion and reality and placed it under the protection of the Northern Dipper. 539 540
• Its Cang Province War Magic Boat is more than 1.2 million li long and serves as a mobile base for cultivators and Dao Soldiers. 1137
• Penglai later fielded a Xuan Yuan Grade flagship stretching three million li across sea and sky. 1244
• The sect’s grand-competition grotto-heaven contains a massive teleportation formation, allowing hundreds of thousands of disciples to fight simultaneously in prepared arenas. 1416

Major Conflicts

• Zheng Kingdom small-world dispute — Jiang Sheng used a Penglai Emissary token to compel the Zheng, Chu, and Lu kingdoms’ True Persons to report to Penglai over a newly discovered small world. 89
• Great Tang succession and regional conflicts — Penglai’s true disciples and Dharma Image elders intervened in Great Tang’s Heavenly Pass Dark Prison and imperial succession struggles, despite the sect’s broader policy of avoiding direct external affairs. 194 249 253
• East Sea Dragon Palace crisis — Penglai’s growing destiny destabilized its long-standing balance with the East Sea Dragon Palace. 263
• Dragon Slaying and Three Seas siege — Penglai executed Ao Bing despite intervention by the East, South, and West Sea Dragon Palaces; the Water Race assault failed to force the sect to yield. 354 357
• Pan Feng Realm incursion — Penglai coordinated with the other Mystic Gate Holy Lands while seeking destiny and territory amid the invasion. 354 360
• Panfeng Heavenly Gate campaign — Penglai helped construct a passage into Panfeng World and deployed cultivators, warships, and Daoist Soldiers to contest its resources and divine forces. 376 377
• Three Realms and Mountain Sea Realm campaigns — Penglai cooperated with Qinghua, Tianhe, Buddhist, and demonic allies in conflicts over worlds and Great Thousand World fortune. 561 942
• Jiuzhou World conflict — Penglai sent Lin Fan and several younger disciples to Jiuzhou World to contend for fortune and prepare for the coming war, while Jiang Sheng rallied reinforcements from Chixiao Dao Sect, Golden Zen Temple, and Demon Emperor Palace. 930 942
• Eastern Region war against One Dao Palace — Penglai and its affiliated sects advanced across Yanzhou with more than thirty million Daoist Soldiers. Ling Yu, Ling Wei, and Lin Fan fought the chief disciples of One Dao Palace, later receiving the aid of Shaobai Underworld Lord and Four Seas True Lord. 1047
• Qian Kun Dao Sect war — Penglai deployed True Persons, Dao Soldiers, and massive warships in campaigns such as the seizure of Green Country’s capital. 1137
• Eastern Heaven Daoist Family conflicts — Penglai’s forces fought in the Nine Provinces Realm, Xuanhuang World, and other theaters, with Ling Yuan repeatedly acting as one of its foremost combatants. 1105 1174 1244
• Xuanmen Great Calamity — Penglai, Qinghua, Tianhe, Yaochi, Chixiao, and affiliated forces fought across the heavens and worlds. Penglai and Qinghua frequently served as the leading forces of the Eastern Heaven Daoist Sect. 1205 1259
• Post-calamity sect competition — After the great wars, Penglai continued consolidating its position through disciple selection, external estates, and the grand competition for future true transmissions. 1410 1414 1459

Relationships

• Qinghua Daoist Sect — Fellow Eastern Heaven Mystic Gate holy land; Qinghua is noted for Feng Shui, heavenly secrets, beast taming, and sprite summoning. Penglai and Qinghua share branches and often cooperate while retaining their own interests. 741 792
• Tian He Daoist Sect — Fellow Eastern Heaven Mystic Gate holy land; Tian He specializes in artifact forging and formations. The three sects are described as connected by the same breath despite their separate inheritances. 741 792
• Eastern Heaven Daoist Sect — Penglai is one of the three principal branches of Eastern Heaven Daoism and one of the tradition’s leading powers across the heavens and myriad worlds. 792 798
• East Sea Dragon Palace — Longtime neighboring rival; their outwardly peaceful relationship deteriorated into open conflict over Penglai’s expanding authority. After the Dragon Palace rebellion, its power in the East Sea was severely reduced. 263 354 360
• Great Tang Dynasty — Penglai recognized the Great Tang’s Grand Ancestor during the previous great tribulation, enabling the dynasty’s ten-thousand-year lifespan. 215
• Buddhist sect — Penglai has alternated between rivalry and cooperation with the Great Golden Zen Temple and Great Heavenly Dragon Temple, especially during Panfeng and Xuanmen conflicts. 360 942
• Demon Emperor Palace — A major rival and occasional ally. The Demon Emperor Palace sent prodigies and True Lords to cooperate with Penglai during the Panfeng and Jiuzhou conflicts. 325 942
• Little Penglai Immortal Realm — A South Sea Penglai domain governed by Jiang Sheng / Ling Yuan, serving as an important sanctuary, cultivation territory, military stronghold, and source of Daoist Soldiers. 471 538 727
• Penglai Estates — External branches that bring Penglai’s methods and protection to distant continents and worlds while identifying future disciples for the main sect. 156 1413
• Heavenly Court — Penglai maintains relations with the Heavenly Court through its True Lords and allied Eastern Heaven powers. Penglai’s rise and the actions of Ling Yuan have drawn the attention of the Heavenly Venerables and Heavenly Emperors. 792 880 1273
• Eastern Heaven Heavenly Venerables — The sect’s destiny is supported by the Heavenly Venerables of Eastern Heaven, and Jiang Sheng has received authority allowing him to represent Penglai Heaven outside the sect. 798 880
• Six Sects and affiliated lineages — Penglai’s affiliated immortal sects and lineages provide disciples, allies, and political support, while Penglai’s reputation and resources give them protection and advancement opportunities. 1419 1459

Notable Quotes

“Just because this Poor Daoist is from Penglai.” — Jiang Sheng 789