 Both Buddhism and the Lingbao School share the idea of the Five Paths of Rebirth ( <unk> ) . People were reborn into earth prisons , as a hungry ghost , as an animal , as a man , or as a celestial being . After death , the body would be <unk> refined in the Palace of Supreme Darkness located in the north , and the Southern Palace in the south . The transmutation of the body consisted of two steps ; the yin components of the person were refined in the Palace of Supreme Darkness , followed by the yang components in the Southern Palace . The Lingbao concept of rebirth is a Chinese adaptation of Buddhism , mixing traditional Chinese concepts with newly arrived Buddhist ideas . 
