If a cultivator doesn't go against the Heaven, there's no divine retribution. If they do go against the Heaven, being heaven defying, then there's the retribution. It's backwards in this chapter.
Theoretically all cultivators should be going against the Heaven since the goal of cultivation is to become immortal, but in fact the Heaven does allow cultivation if it happens without defiance against the natural order. Is that real cultivation, though, is another question.