出于继承李唐正统的政治需要和个人偏好，李昪将宗教信仰作为选择继承人的重要参考。青睐佛教的李璟同样需要道教神圣的正统认同。茅山宗领袖邓启霞、王栖霞的迟疑态度让朝廷与该道团的合作逐渐破裂。江西是南唐境内另一处道风蔚然的地区。洪州孝道派面临着内部的祖师正统危机，外来的倪少通教团亟需取得正式地位，江西道团更倾向于与政权合作。随着疆土的扩张，南唐及其官方道教的正统性需求也在扩张。占据信仰多元混杂的闽地后，南唐通过宣示以老子为祖的官方道教相对于宝皇信仰和其他民间信仰的正统地位，明确了本政权合法统治闽地的世俗权力。中兴唐室的神圣话语无法弥补南唐虚弱的综合国力，在统一战争的现实面前，南唐的政教正统论走向瓦解。

Orthodoxy concerns and personal belief led Li Bian李昪 to use religious tendency as an important reference in choosing his successor. Li Jing李璟, likewise, needed the sacred religion to approve his orthodoxy. The hesitant attitude of Deng Qixia邓启霞 and Wang Qixia王栖霞, leaders of the Maoshan Sect茅山宗, broke down the cooperation between the Court and their Order. Jiangxi江西 was another region within the Southern Tang南唐 where Daoism flourished. In this area, Xiaodao Sect孝道派 was facing an internal crisis, and the outsider Ni Shaotong倪少通 Order needed its formal status. Daoists in Jiangxi was more inclined to cooperate with the Court. The need for orthodoxy in the Southern Tang and its official Daoism expanded with the territory. Having occupied Min闽, a land of mixed beliefs, the rulers of Southern Tang asserted the orthodoxy of official Daoism, with Laozi老子 as its ancestor, thus legalizing their secular authority to rule this land. The sacred narration of “the Revival of Tang dynasty” was unable to compensate for the weakness in its material power, Southern Tang's political and religious orthodoxy came to collapse in the face of the Unification War waged by northern dynasties.