At the far end of the Eastern Sea, toward the southeast and beyond the plunging ocean currents, stood a divine mountain rising from the sea to touch the Heavenly Realm. It was called Mount Tianpeng, and atop it stood the Lingqiao Immortal Palace.
Its master, Perfected Red Staff, was a true immortal who had attained the Dao during the Tang Dynasty. He belonged to the same generation as Luo Gongyuan, Ye Fashan, and Zhang Guolao, the three great figures of the early Tang Dynasty.
Even then, he had already survived the Loose Immortal's Four-Nine Tribulation and built this Heavenly Immortal Palace atop Mount Tianpeng.
By now, he had long since reached the level of a Golden Immortal, but Ascension would require him to pass through another incarnation and tribulation. He believed that going to heaven meant accepting a Divine Office and its many constraints. Unwilling to trouble himself with reincarnation, he had remained in the mortal world, retaining the rank and attainment of an Earth Immortal. In truth, several of his disciples were already at the Heavenly Immortal level, each with a thousand years of cultivation, while even his youngest granddisciples were Earth Immortals with three to five hundred years of cultivation.
His old fellow cultivators, after Ascension to the Lingkong Immortal Realm, had become Golden Immortals in some cases and Heavenly Immortals in many more. Occasionally, they would descend to drink tea with him, chat, and discuss the Dao and its arts.
This lineage secluded itself far from human habitation, cultivating behind closed doors, and rarely ventured out.
The most renowned thing in their palace was the Lantian Jade Fruit, which could preserve one's youthful appearance when eaten. Many people came to the mountain drawn by its fame, braving flowing sands, plunging ocean currents, raging flames, and hard ice