Great feats and extreme acts of devotion, fervor, or piety might be enough to grant mortals the opportunity to ascend to a higher plane of immortal existence.

The Eight immortals of the Taoist pantheon were a diverse group of men and women who achieved immortality through fasting, kindness to the poor, and sometimes divine intervention. Lan Caihe even ascended to heaven while totally drunk after inadvertently climbing onto a celestial swan. Sun Wukong was so amused that he granted La Caihe 500 years of his magical powers.