This point was also borne out by the difference between Daoist arts and royal authority.
A Daoist's methods came from the Void; indeed, they themselves had come from the Void. Thus, even in the mortal realm, they possessed supernatural powers and could wield all manner of Daoist arts.
An emperor, on the other hand, might rule all beneath heaven and attain eternal life in a single stroke after death, yet while alive, he possessed not the slightest supernatural power.
Of course, it was not that emperors could not cultivate Daoist and Buddhist methods. Otherwise, there would be no such thing as an earthly Dao Kingdom.
Rather, a person's energy was limited. Unless one began cultivating the Dao from childhood, it would be too late to start once one had grown old.
As for later emperors, because the Grand Ancestor Emperor had already carved out territory in the Void, they could no longer cultivate Daoist arts at all.
Daoist arts were the path to one person's Immortality. Once the Grand Ancestor had claimed it, no later successor could possibly replace him.
Yet though later emperors could not cultivate Daoist arts, they were immune to all methods. At their root, Daoist arts were the use of qi, while an emperor carried the accumulated destiny of an entire dynasty upon his person. To kill him with Daoist arts, one's destiny had to overwhelmingly surpass his.
The same held true for court officials. Naturally, the qi upon them was inferior to an emperor's, but to kill them—even with the most exquisite Daoist arts—one had to expend an equal amount of qi to wear it away. It was simply not worth the cost.
If one's own destiny was insufficient and one forcibly used Daoist arts, one would instead suffer a backlash from qi.
Of course,