It's kind of corny that nobody cares how many "nameless" cultivators die, no matter how outstanding they happened to be, but when a scumbag silkpants die, it's suddenly a crisis. I guess that's how the world rolls. Before the latter half of the 19th century, out world tended to be the same. Grunts were wantonly killed in battles, officers were captured alive, if possible, and treated well enough until they could be exchanged for officers of the own side or ransom. Of course it wasn't a universal rule and circumstances varied, but it was fairly typical.