Seeing Chi Xue and the other God Devouring Bodies closing in, Ling Tian followed his plan and immediately tried every means to break free of Venerable Sword Saint, then attacked Chi Xue and the others. With his current strength, he could still pose quite a threat to them, even after spending most of his energy.
However, Chi Xue and the others had anticipated this, so they were ready. The moment Ling Tian attacked, they used secret techniques such as the God-Devouring Demon Domain, Asura Dharma Aspect, and Phantom Clone, then joined forces to resist him. With a secret technique like the Asura Dharma Aspect, they could withstand Ling Tian's attacks, giving them a chance to escape with Phantom Clone.
That made sense. Ling Tian could only kill Chi Xue and the others in close combat. If he used powerful archery techniques, they would have more time to react—especially since they knew those techniques well. Under those circumstances, killing them with archery was impossible.
But even if Ling Tian used his close-combat skills against them, success would be difficult. The Asura Dharma Aspect was nearly the strongest secret technique for close combat. And with Ling Tian having spent most of his energy while Venerable Sword Saint remained nearby, he could not afford to throw caution to the wind and attack Chi Xue and the others.
That was right. Ling Tian could not commit himself fully to attacking them, and with his strength held in reserve, killing them would be even harder—especially since they were prepared. On top of that, Venerable Sword Saint arrived only a dozen or so breaths later. Ling Tian had no choice but to retreat and do his best to shake him off. He used the time to recover, while also preparing for another pursuit.
Though he had