[ Her eyes widen. ] I never would have guessed that spiritual energy could be used as a source of energy to power an... engine for a machine. That's-- incredible. [ Actually, in retrospect, maybe she should have? Wei Wuxian has his magical tools, although none of them are human-shaped. From speaking with other cultivators, spiritual energy seemed much more, well, metaphysical. Clearly it has more properties than she had originally thought.

That, or this man's type of spiritual energy is unique to his world. ] ...But to answer your question, it sounds like these mechs are akin to androids and robots from our own world. [ She even used to live with an android in town! Not any more, though. ] They are tools in the very same sense, used for assistance, convenience. [ War. ] Almost all of the technology has been lost, though.