i like how the decisions cultivators make always come back to their personal relations (Bai Li Zhong and his brother, Ah-ting and Qu Chen, Di Wen and his family, etc). despite having severed themselves from the mortal world, they're still tied to their sentiments. it's a little poetic how everything circles back to a few incursions of harm in the grand scheme of things.
does this mean the Li Mountain cultivator will let Bai Li Zhong come out of seclusion just to kill Ah-ting and cure his inner demon, and then they'll restart the weird throbbing heart process to help him ascend to the immortal stage? i imagine Astral Projection stage is not good enough for whatever plans they have for the world. in a way, wouldn't this inadvertently delay their plans (so maybe this is kinda good for the good guys)?