When alchemists, playing on people's fear of death, claimed that elixirs of immortality could be found on fairy islands in the sea, emperor after emperor sent people off in search of them. This set off a trend of seeking immortality throughout society, which helped Daoism develop into an organized religion by the end of the Eastern Han (25-220).
針端們對死亡的畏懼，方士提出海上仙島有不死藥的說法，帝王紛紛派人往不死仙境求藥，帶出整個社會求仙不死的風氣，逐步促成東漢道教的組織化。