Without question, this was a powerful Dao art.
Under normal circumstances, since Mu Xuan worked for the court, he would naturally be protected by the nation's fortune, immune to all spells. He could be killed by blades and weapons, but it should have been impossible for Dao arts to delude him.
Yet Mu Xuan was a Daoist. Though his status was now exalted, he had never received an official investiture from the court. After all, investiture concerned fate and fortune. For ordinary people, it was one thing—investing mortals would not drain the nation's fortune—but if a Daoist received an investiture, they could continuously draw upon the qi of an entire nation.
Of course, Great New had not completely sealed off the path of investiture. If someone could make contributions that drove a great transformation of the age, the court would not begrudge them a Human Immortal Dao Fruit.
It was simply that Mu Xuan's present contributions were not enough to earn such an investiture. His pay consisted of two parts: one was court currency, while the other was fate and fortune bestowed by the court.
That fate and fortune was carried within an imperial decree. It had nothing to do with rank, and could not be used to draw upon the nation's fortune.
For the court, such an arrangement was undoubtedly the most advantageous. It could borrow the power of Daoists without inviting calamity.
But in turn, Daoists could not receive the protection of the nation's fortune.
Just as at this very moment, Mu Xuan had easily fallen under the sway of a Dao art, without causing the slightest stir in the nation's fortune.
Naturally, this was also because Fan Qingmeng's Dao arts were profoundly abstruse.
Half a step into Great Luo—she had truly cast off the mortal world.
A