A century ago—for many cultivators, no different from "a year ago" to ordinary people—the Immortal Alliance still maintained an aggressive posture. At first, Conquest Envoys would use Celestial Artifacts to measure fluctuations in a planet's surface spiritual energy, pinpoint the High-level Cultivators, then employ ultra-long-range spells, sword formations, and similar means to kill every Mahayana cultivator with precision before conducting distorted explorations.
The devastation wreaked upon human civilization by the two outsiders, the Demon Emperor and Lord of Great Heavens, had been far too severe. Thus, for a long time, the Immortal Alliance had harbored hatred and fear toward cultivators of other races.
In the eyes of Conquest Envoys of that era, every foreign cultivator harbored ill intent, every Mahayana cultivator was a potential Devourer of Heaven and Earth—this title was now gradually being replaced by the loanword "undying beast," introduced by the Dragon Race—and all of them were birds of a feather with Lord of Great Heavens. Only a dead Ancient Method Cultivator was a good Ancient Method Cultivator.
However, this trend was gradually fading away.
The foremost reason for this shift in thought was the rise within the Immortal Alliance of the Ancient Spirit Cliff faction led by Tianze Shenjun, which called for better treatment of native civilizations. They believed that every civilization was an exceedingly rare sample—one could almost call it "irreplaceable." Killing Mahayana cultivators before confirming that they would negatively affect the entire world—that is, before they were "about to ascend to immortality"—was equivalent to removing the highest stratum of a civilization, and would inevitably cause immense upheaval within it. Even for the sake of research, such actions ought to be avoided.
"Besides, if we act this way, how are we any different from that beast?" This was Tianze Shenjun's argument.
Lord of Yuanli had ascended