As some Han Chinese (now the modern-day Cantonese and Fujianese peoples) migrated into the south from Hebei and Henan during the Tang-Song era, Xuanwu is also widely revered in the Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian provinces, as well as among the overseas diaspora.

Since the usurping Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty claimed to receive the divine assistance of Xuanwu during his successful Jingnan Campaign against his nephew, he had a number of Taoist monasteries constructed in the Wudang Mountains of Hubei, where Xuanwu allegedly attained immortality.

One story says that Xuanwu was originally a prince of Jing Le State in northern Hebei during the time of the Yellow Emperor.

As he grew up, he felt the sorrow and pain of the life of ordinary people and wanted to retire to a remote mountain for cultivation of the Tao.

[citation needed] One day, after assisting a woman in labor, as he cleaned her blood stained clothes in a river nearby, the words "Dark (or Mysterious) Heavenly Highest Deity" (玄天上帝 Xuántiān Shàngdì) appeared before him.

The Jade Emperor was moved by his sincerity and determination to clear his sins, and made him an immortal with the title of Xuántiān Shàngdì.

The two generals are deities that handle many local issues from children's birth, medication, family matters as well as fengshui consultation.

The worshipers of Chen Fu Zhen Ren, especially at Tik Liong Tian Temple, Rogojampi, Banyuwangi Regency, East Java, believe that Xuantian Shangdi is their patron deity.

[citation needed] Xuanwu is known among the Thai people as Chao Pho Suea (Tiger God) or Tua Lao Yah (大老爷 "Big Deity") according by Teochew dialect.