As long as they ensure no one starves to death and no lives are taken, then their punishment will be light and not severe.
After all, as long as no lives are taken, they will have countless excuses to explain their behavior.
Moreover, within the entire cultivation world, human life is the baseline. As long as no lives are taken, no matter how these ordinary people are made to work, the cultivator won't be excessively punished, since in the whole world, cultivators are at the top of the food chain.
As long as no lives are taken, the worst behavior is just excessive, merely excessive. But if lives are taken, it indicates the behavior is of a demon.
So, some demons scoff at the hypocritical behavior of the righteous path, since many demons wouldn't deign to act in such a way.
Because demons simply drive them, forcing these ordinary people to mine minerals or plant herbs, and if they disobey, they are killed directly.
