“At the head of the Southern Mountains (Nanshan) is Que Mountain. Its peak is called Zhaoyao Mountain, overlooking the Western Sea. It is rich with cassia (osmanthus) trees and pearls of jade. There grows an herb shaped like leek with azure blossoms called zhuyu; eating it banishes hunger. A tree resembling black grain blooms in four directions, named migu; wearing it keeps one from wandering. A beast like a white-eared ape walks on all fours, running swiftly like people; it is called mangmang, and eating it gives great speed. The Liyu’s water springs there and flows west to the sea; within grow yupi, which when worn cure illnesses.” — Classic of Mountains and Seas

　　In ancient times the divine clan led the heavens, protecting all living beings. When a catastrophic calamity struck heaven and earth, the Father God led the other gods to resist. They sacrificed their entire clan so that mortals would survive, and with this the divine clan perished. After the gods were gone, dragons had no ruler, demons and ghosts ran rampant, and disasters struck without end. Under these dire times, the Immortal Virtue Master Zhuyue Zhenren founded a sect on Zhaoyao Mountain, gathering all those with ambitions to seek immortality. They took it as their duty to guard the world’s people.

　　In no time, the pursuit of cultivation became wildly popular. Over tens of thousands of years, the Immortal Sects rose and fell through turmoil, wars of immortals and demons, and dynasties replacing one another. Only Zhaoyao Mountain endured throughout, becoming the foremost of all the Immortal Sects. The last war between immortals and demons took place over a century ago. The Demon King obediently followed the divine ancestor’s teachings and kept to his own realm; the King of the Underworld dealt only with collecting souls and reincarnation. Only the Demon Lord (Wolfson of Malice) was dissatisfied with the status quo, ambitiously plotting to conquer all under Heaven.

　　Thus war broke out between immortals and demons. It was an unprecedented conflict: the Demon Lord was determined to win. He not only rallied hundreds of thousands of demons, but also won over rebellious demons and lawless ghost tribes, advancing straight toward the Immortal Mountain. The great battle lasted three days and three nights, with corpses everywhere and blood flooding half the sky. Even the streams at the mountain’s base turned crimson. In the end the Demon Lord was gravely wounded. Lord Canghai seized the moment to kill the Demon King and claimed the throne for himself, becoming the new Demon Lord.

　　After Lord Canghai took command of the Demon Realm, he issued a decree: all demons must not leave their domain without permission, must not stir up trouble or pick fights — violators would be burned to ashes and their souls sealed forever. The Immortal Sects were more than half destroyed; even the forebears of Zhaoyao Mountain had perished. In the crisis, the late sect leader’s top disciple, Yu Qingshan, stepped forward and took over as the new master of Zhaoyao, working with his sect to rebuild the Immortal Sects. With the immortals starting anew and demons keeping to their domain, the people of the world finally enjoyed over a hundred years of peace.