Gao Feng had riled Ling Tian into agreeing not to flee during their challenge for a simple reason: he wanted to capture Ling Tian alive. Only if Ling Tian stayed put would they have a better chance of catching him. Then they could use him to bargain with Lingxiao Pavilion for the Nine Reversals Heavenly Technique, the Enlightenment Sacred Tree, or even the Phoenix Soul Fruit.
It made sense. Every cultivator in the God Realm knew that Ling Tian had plenty of ways to save his own skin. If things turned sour and he fled, Gao Feng and the others' plan would go up in smoke. They didn't want to lose such an opportunity, especially since it might never come again.
Gao Feng's cultivation was far higher than Ling Yu's, yet Ling Yu had still managed to escape him. Ling Tian was much stronger than Ling Yu, and even with help, Gao Feng wasn't certain he could capture Ling Tian alive. After all, taking someone alive was much harder than killing them, and a dead Ling Tian would be worthless to them.
That was exactly why Gao Feng had said those things—to goad Ling Tian into promising not to flee during their challenge.
Ling Tian was happy to play along. Once he'd figured out Gao Feng's intentions, he'd developed killing intent and decided to kill all eight of them. With his strength, he might be able to kill one or two, but likely not every last one of them. Gao Feng in particular could simply escape the arena once things started looking bad. Ling Tian was alone and couldn't chase them all down, so he wouldn't be able to kill the entire group.
"Don't worry. As long as you don't run, I won't either," Ling Tian said casually.
"Of course