"Even Nascent Soul remains have become spoils of war."
Li Chen looked at the message on his communication artifact, his expression turning reflective.
Elder Xu, however, thought nothing of it. "Heaven gives birth to all things as equals. Why should humans stand a rank above the rest? People often cook fine food, but strictly speaking, they are simmering the flesh and bones of living beings. Even we cherish humanity for its sentient intelligence, not its sack of skin."
The Puppet Dao had always had a tradition of granting intelligent puppets the rights of personhood and treating them as subjects, yet human trafficking and the use of corpses and bones also existed alongside it.
These things were not contradictory, because Puppet Masters were fundamentally cultivators. The laws of mortal dynasties and governments, and the moral notions of mortals, could not be imposed upon them.
Besides, mortal notions changed every few years. Ten years ago, even baring one's arms might have been considered an affront to public decency; ten years later, people might be clamoring to embrace their natural instincts and return to nature. Governmental power also changed hands every century, reducing laws to scraps of paper. None of it could endure.
Cultivators could see through illusions and point straight to the essence. What was that essence? Whatever benefited oneself and one's group. Grand and righteous-sounding reasons could be found to support or oppose anything.
Precisely because of this, Puppet Masters had their own internally consistent moral notions and codes of conduct. They had no need to cover their ears while stealing a bell, as certain hospitals, universities, and pharmaceutical companies had done in his previous life.
At this moment, however, Li Chen finally understood why the Outer Dao denounced them as evil fiends.
This was a deep-seated blood feud that could