Ling Tian and the others had completely gained the upper hand in their battle against the three cultivators at the Twenty-ninth Heaven of Near-Saint. The reason they still wanted to make a wager with them was not merely that Ling Tian didn't want to completely fall out with these people and lose the chance to build the same kind of relationship with them that he had with Xiao Ran. More importantly, he was worried that the three would burn their Origin Bloodline Power if they realized they were bound to be captured. If they did, the outcome would be more than just Ling Tian failing to capture them; their own group could very well be put in danger too.
It made sense. The main purpose of Ling Tian and the others' operation this time was to capture some cultivators at the Twenty-ninth Heaven of Near-Saint, then use them to break out ahead of schedule. If those cultivators died after burning their Origin Bloodline Power, their plan to break out early would naturally suffer a major setback. Even if their deaths meant there were three fewer Twenty-ninth Heaven of Near-Saint cultivators to deal with, they would also have fewer such cultivators to help them break out later. With fewer allies, escaping would naturally be much harder.
That was exactly why he had made the wager with them. Once the three agreed, they wouldn't burn their Origin Power. That way, Ling Tian could naturally bring them over to his side and lead them against the cultivators surrounding the Sacred Ruins Abyss later.
If Ling Tian and the others hadn't passed on the Sacred Heart Sect and Thunder Strike Sect cultivation methods and secret arts to Xiao Ran, or if Xiao Ran's strength hadn't improved so dramatically, the three probably wouldn't have believed