Compared to Arthur, the disciples at the third mortal coil and second mortal coil were more susceptible to the poison. In a few seconds of contact, they began dropping like flies.
In just 10 seconds, they were all dead. She stopped producing the poison and immediately took out her communication talisman to apply for leave.
She did this quickly before her recent actions could cause any commotions that delay her. Even as she was communicating with them, she was already leaving.
In order to avoid delays, she only told the two other golden core elders in the sect that she was leaving. She didn't tell the patriarch.
Then she left before they could tell the patriarch and others in the sect. She rushed towards the border to the sect as fast as possible.
Pale Shadow tried to convince her to stay in the sect, where she would be protected during the advancement, but she didn't listen. She passed the barrier formations and left the sect.
But as soon as she stepped outside of the Purple Flower sect, the world warped around her, and she found herself standing outside of the accommodations of the disciples of the Blood Skull sect.
She saw that they were all awake and very alive. In fact, she noticed that there was no fog of poison at all. So by the looks of things, she hadn't poisoned them at all.
This made her frown and ask herself, "Was I daydreaming just now?"
A reply came from above her, saying, "Something like that."
This made Purple Vine look up sharply. When she did, she saw a green humanoid tree standing above her. Not only that, but she also saw a humanoid being made of flowered vines of black, white, and purple standing beside the humanoid tree.
Both humanoid beings were slender and beautiful. But this sight caused her face to pale in fright.
She is not someone who usually feels emotions. But at this point, she felt a fear so intense that it froze both her body and mind.
Even so, she recovered quickly and bowed to the two nascent soul patriarchs in greeting, saying, "It is a pleasure to be in the presence of you two majesties. Is there something I can do for you?"
The green humanoid being made of tree parts said to the other humanoid being made of vines, "The people of your sect are impressive. Look how fast she recovered. Do you think she will deny what she is about to do or admit it?"
The humanoid being made of vines and flowers didn't reply to the question. Instead, she looked down at Purple Vine and said, "I am disappointed in you."
"I am disappointed in you not only because you betrayed your sect but also because you thought that you could do this in my presence without me noticing."
"I have emphasized how important this exchange program is many times. Even if I ignored how you've been trying to sabotage it, there is no way that I wouldn't have planned to prevent the disciples of the Blood Skull sect from being killed right under my nose."
She shook her head and said, "I can understand doing everything you have to do to make progress and advance in cultivation. But underestimating my intelligence is foolishness on your part and an insult to me."
After hearing all of these, Purple Vine realized that her identity as a traitor had been exposed. But she still didn't panic.
She looked around and asked respectfully, "If I may ask, what happened earlier? What did I see? Was I in an illusion?"
Lady Evergreen replied with pride and glee, "Yes, you were. I used an illusion formation to trap you when you reached this point. Everything that happened since then was only an illusion."
She chuckled and said, "You might not notice the formation around you right now, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. You just can't see it."
Purple Vine didn't care about the particulars. All she cared about was that she hadn't really poisoned the people of the Blood Skull sect.
So she said to her patriarch, "Since I didn't actually poison our guests, I haven't done anything that can't be forgiven. I am willing to atone for my sins of sharing privileged information with the enemies of the sect and attempting to kill the disciples of the Blood Skull sect."
"I will accept just punishment. All I ask for is that you give me a chance at a future."
Then she said to Lady Evergreen, "And if you want, I can act as a double agent for the sect. I can try to infiltrate the Red and Blue Fire sect. And if I get the rank 5 body refining technique that they promised me, I will also share it with the sect."
Lady Evergreen laughed in response to this proposal. She also turned to the patriarch of the Purple Flower sect and said, "See that? She is resourceful. I like that. I like it very much."
She was saying positive words, but her eyes were cold and frigid. This made the Patriarch of the Purple Flower sect sigh.
As she sighed, she said to Purple Vine, "You make good proposals. If it was just me, I would accept them or consider them."
"It is likely that I would forgive you and make you atone for your offense. As for the second proposal, I would dissuade you from doing it, as it is too dangerous."
"But I can't do any of that because you exposed yourself to our future allies. For the sake of the sect, I have to give you up in order to establish a good relationship with the Blood Skull sect."
Purple Vine heard this and nodded in understanding. She didn't like what things had come to, but she didn't cry or beg for her life.
Instead of doing those useless things, she said to Lady Evergreen, "What do I need to do to live?"