I don't see the utility of learning about the Wests philosophy of their arts.
Sure, it can be personally helpful for Ling Qi's cultivation in the nature of conflict. Pretty useful, even.
But to assuage the Pines's concerns? Not at all.
Anything we learn from either option is going to be a lie. Well, lie is not the word as the soldiers will genuinely think they are telling the truth. But it will be wrong to some greater or lower extent.
In any case, what cultivation insights can Ling Qi gleam from third realm guards?
"One should conquer their enemy and make their strength their own"?
"Competition and strive are what push us to improve ourselves"?
"The path one carves for themselves may be harder that the well-trodden one, but it's more worthwhile"?
Interesting. But why would the Pines care? The Pines will be concerned about the similarities of their cultivation with the Flower Demon they fought in the past.
If Ling Qi tries to relay Ji Rong's explanation that they are trying to strip the Goddess bare instead of having made a pact with her, I can only see it falling flat. Why would Dzintara trust Ling Qi's assessment of such differences in perspective about a province's cultivation it's not her own and she barely knows anything about?
It would be another matter if Dzintara trusted Ling Qi, but she doesnt. The Pines's doubt and apprehension about the Western Territories will remain the same
And more importantly. The mentality and cultivation of all the soldiers have been shaped by pre-adoption circumstances. So the argument that understanding how they think will allow us to gleam the Western Territories's motives and objectives is false. The shift in paradigm is too massive. The change in the Western Territories's behaviour attest to that.
That's not to mention how little relation can be between the grand schemes of the higher ups and the thoughts and view of the soldiers. Anticipating or infering the West's goals by exploring the philosophy of the common rank's arts is a fool's errand.