 In addition to borrowing deities from the Celestial Masters and the Shangqing School , the Lingbao School also developed its own gods . The supreme god of Lingbao Daoists is known as the <unk> <unk> or the Celestial Worthy of the Original Beginning , who played a similar role to the deified Laozi in the Celestial Masters . According to the scriptures , this god went through a series of kalpa cycles that were given names similar to dynastic names , until emerging at the beginning of the <unk> period . The next most important god was Laojun , the deified form of Laozi , who was the Celestial Worthy 's chief disciple . Below these two main gods in the celestial hierarchy were those deities associated with the Southern Palace , where spirits went after death to prepare for rebirth . The head of this group of gods was known as the Perfected of the Southern <unk> . Beneath him was the Director of the Equerry , who was in charge of the life records of the spirits , and Lord Han , who controlled <unk> , the city of the dead . Below these principal gods in the Lingbao hierarchy were other deities such as the Five Old Men , the Dragon Kings , and the Demon Kings . 
