Purple Vine wanted to live and was willing to do anything in order to be spared. She was desperate, and even though she didn't show this desperation on her face or in her voice, the two nascent soul cultivators could still tell that she was desperate.
Lady Evergreen didn't reply to the question. She just waved her hand at Purple Vine. This caused a wave of spiritual energy to erupt from her and sweep through Purple Vine's body.
The wave of spiritual energy didn't kill her. But it severed the connection between her body and soul. So she lost consciousness and slumped to the ground like a puppet whose strings were cut.
After doing this, she pulled Purple Vine's body over and held it in her hand.
As she did so, she said, "Don't worry. You will live. You just won't like how you live."
Then she said to the patriarch of the Purple Flower sect, "Good choice giving her up. I didn't even ask yet. It seems you're as smart as you say you are."
The patriarch snorted and asked, "What next? If you don't have anything to do here, please leave me in peace."
Lady Evergreen replied with a grin, "Don't be so glum. I know that she was your prized disciple and that you are nearing the end of your lifespan, but that doesn't mean that you can't have another talented disciple before you die."
The patriarch didn't say anything, but her soured face said everything that needed to be said.
Lady Evergreen chuckled and said, "Jokes aside. You did well. The Blood Skull sect has seen your determination, so I hereby extend the hand of friendship and accept your request for aid in the war against the Ted and Blue Fire sect."
"Not only that, the Blood Skull sect will encourage the other sects to join our alliance. We will do our best to ensure that the Red and Blue Fire sect will not run you into the ground."
After saying so, she extended the other hand that wasn't holding onto a traitor to the patriarch of the Purple Flower sect.
The patriarch took the hand, and the two of them shook on it.
Then the patriarch said, "I look forward to working together with you to drive away the invader from our lands."
Lady Evergreen nodded in satisfaction and said, "I'll let the junior elders of the two sects work together on how to encourage the other sects to join. In the meantime, I will wait with the disciples of my sect and leave with them tomorrow."
The patriarch said, "I don't mind you waiting with your people. But I also hope that you don't mind me waiting with you. Just to ensure your safety."
Lady Evergreen knew that the patriarch was asking to stay with her because of the lack of trust. But she didn't argue with her.
She just curled her lips and said, "I appreciate the concern."
The two of them ended their conversation on that note. They stood above the accommodations of the disciples of the Blood Skull sect without anyone noticing their presence.
The avatar of the patriarch of the Purple Flower sect had nothing else to do aside from watching Lady Evergreen in order to make sure that she didn't do anything suspicious.
Meanwhile, Lady Evergreen packed up the illusion formation that she laid down earlier. She also wrapped up Purple Vine's body and put it in a big bag as if she were a sack of meat.
The people beneath them didn't know what had happened. They didn't know that their lives were in danger and that they would have died if the two patriarchs hadn't been watching over them.
The patriarch of the Purple Flower sect had been watching over Arthur and his disciples. She took this job very seriously when she saw that the Blood Skull sect had only sent one golden core elder.
Sending the one person that the whole sect hates to oversee the exchange program is like sending a person into a lion's den. She saw Arthur being alone as a recipe for disaster, so she had always been watching over the team from the Blood Skull sect.
Lady Evergreen, on the other hand, had always been watching and keeping track of Purple Vine. Anytime Purple Vine came out of the inner sect, she would follow the traitor to see what she would do.
So there was no way that Purple Vine was going to get away with killing the people of the Blood Skull sect. What was uncertain was how much punishment she would get for her offense.
When Lady Evergreen saw her sneak into the accommodations of the team from the Blood Skull sect, she knew something bad was going to happen. She said this to the patriarch of the Purple Flower sect, but the patriarch didn't believe her and wanted to see what Purple Flower wanted to do before casting judgement.
The patriarch had her suspicions but didn't know for sure that Purple Vine was a traitor. Only Lady Evergreen knew that Purple Vine was a traitor and also knew what she was about to do tonight because she overheard Purple Vine informing her contact of it, but it was going to be difficult for her to present believable proof.
The best way to get proof was to do a soul search on Purple Vine. But a soul search would damage her mind and soul. There was no way the patriarch would allow that to happen.
Lady Evergreen wanted Purple Vine dead, but she knew that was only going to happen if Purple Vine actually went through with killing the people from the Blood Skull sect.
But she couldn't let Purple Vine kill so many people, so she decided to use an illusion formation to prove just how much of a traitor Purple Vine was.
Fortunately, Purple Vine didn't disappoint Lady Evergreen. She put on an award winning performance for the prize of the label of traitor.