Shantu was a native of Longxi. He enjoyed riding horses when he was young, but his horse stepped on him and broke his foot. A hermit in the mountains taught him to take a powder made of dihuang, danggui, qianghuo, and kushen — classical herbs of the Taoist healing tradition. After taking it for one year, he no longer had a strong appetite for food; his illness was cured and his body became light. He followed the hermit to ask him about it, and the hermit said he was a messenger of the Five Sacred Mountains: "I am going to famous mountains to collect herbs. If you can follow me, I will make you immortal." Shantu followed him for more than sixty years, refining his vital energy through Taoist inner cultivation. One day, he returned home and observed the mourning rites for his mother within the family. After a year, he left again to achieve Taoist immortality, and no one knew where he went.

Shantu suffered from illness, which led to the destruction of his wealth. By receiving vital energy into his body, he took light medicine and lived a long life. He wrote elegies for the cypress trees at graves; heavenly affection still lingered. After several cycles, he ascended to a high place and forever severed his ties with the mundane world.