While the cultivation sects were indeed awed by this information, that only lasted for a short while. Anyway, the person in question was a dragon. Being a famous scholar on top of it actually wasn't that much more interesting after you got over the initial shock. Thus, they soon paid their full attention to Fei Bai Mu again.
Thanks to the fact that there had been several debates before even inviting everyone for this trial about what should and what shouldn't be done in the future regarding the matter of hunting demons, it didn't take long to come to a conclusion.
After all, the unranked sects were all on the same page already and most of the sects that had their disciples imprisoned before had been involved in the previous discussions as well so they readily agreed with what was brought up.
In a way, it could be said that the meeting was actually more of a formality to make the lowest-ranked sect, as well as the demon-hunting sects themselves, feel as if they actually had the chance to influence the outcome. To be honest, Fei Bai Mu wouldn't have minded adding or cutting any points to what had been agreed on previously if there were any good arguments made either way but no surprises occurred.
When everything had been discussed in full, Fei Bai Mu had one of her disciples write up a contract that the envoys of the sects all had to sign. From the other unranked sects to the lower-tiered sect, nobody had a problem with it. Even the demon-hunting sects signed one after the other. The only ones who still weren't satisfied were — rather unsurprisingly — the Chun Feng Sect.
Even with the contract right in front of him, Xian Xun furrowed his brows and refused to pick up the brush. "I will not sign it. You are just opening the gates for an invasion of the demons."
Fei Bai Mu looked at him, the disappointment evident in her eyes. She had known that it would be difficult to convince Xian Xun to be a part of this. She wouldn't have thought that he would be this stubborn though. Well, there was nothing she could do to change his mind if even the people of the dragon race hadn't been able to do that.
"If Sect Master Xian Xun is of that opinion, then I'm afraid we'll have to live with that." She waved at her disciple to bring back the contract and then rolled it up, sealing it with her spiritual energy. "Nonetheless, I think that this meeting has been a success.
"From now on, all the sects gathered here — save for the Chun Feng Sect of course — will regard this contract as binding. This will give our disciples and also the people living among humans that are of non-human origin peace of mind. They will not be put in needless danger anymore.
"As for the Chun Feng Sect … Well, I cannot force you." She could, however, tell people to keep an eye on them. And the other sects were completely able to do so as well. Even if the Chun Feng Sect refused to sign, that didn't mean that they would have an easy time hunting demons in the future.
It was to be expected that over time, the Chun Feng Sect would slowly dissolve. After all, when their reputation hit rock bottom and they were unable to do what they were supposed to do, then how were they supposed to survive? No sect was able to exist in a vacuum.
It might feel cruel but it was even crueler to let them hunt people that had ever done anything wrong in their life and were only shunned for who their parents were. From now on, something like this was not supposed to occur anymore and she wouldn't let the Chun Feng Sect change that. No, from now on, things would be fair.
This contract stated that even if there were suspicions regarding a person's heritage, they could not just be killed and couldn't be imprisoned either as long as there was no evidence that they had committed any crimes.
If they did, however, then they would have to face the consequences and they would naturally be treated somewhat differently from others. After all, while having the blood of a nonhuman race didn't necessarily make them into worse people, it did give them abilities that needed to be accounted for.
This meant that while the demon-hunting sects would have to be more careful in what they did in the future, it also meant that they weren't unneeded. No, they still had their task. They would just need to adhere to some new rules from now on. It seemed to be the best compromise for everyone.
What had originally started as a huge conspiracy that might have caused several dozens of people to lose their lives, had finally been resolved in an almost peaceful manner with hardly any casualties.
Thinking about it like this, quite a few of the people gathered at the Jian Yi Sect couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. Even though it had been the dragons' work to a large degree and not something they could pride themselves on, it was still a good thing no matter how this result had come about. From now on, things would be better and they would make sure to react sooner if something like this was going to happen again.
In this way, the trial of the demon hunters finally came to an end and the sects could return to their own places, informing their Sect Masters and Elders of what exactly had gone down there.
Soon enough, things were back to everyday life with the Sect Masters worrying about how to keep the sects afloat, the Elders fretting over how to teach their disciples, and those disciples focusing on cultivation.
This trial was now nothing more than an event of the past and the cultivation world seemed to have become peaceful again with nobody needing to worry anymore. But amidst those following, peaceful years, the greatest worry of one person eventually came true.