After Venerable Sword Saint captured all the Ancient Divine Beasts he could, he asked whether attacking Fengyun Realm next would let him fuse nine golden cores. When he received a negative answer, he gave up on attacking Ling Tian and the others. He knew that fusing only eight golden cores gave him no chance of destroying the Myriad Sword Demon Extermination Grand Formation. He would only be wasting time and embarrassing himself again, so they did not attack and simply withdrew.
Of course, Venerable Sword Saint believed it would not be long before he had a chance to destroy the Myriad Sword Demon Extermination Grand Formation. He even had two or three chances, as he saw it. For instance, he could join forces with Chi Xue and the others after they fused with Ancient Divine Beasts, or he could wait until he was able to fuse nine golden cores before attacking.
Venerable Sword Saint's immediate retreat let Ling Tian and the others breathe a little easier. It was not that they lacked confidence in resisting him with eight golden cores fused; they were worried he could fuse nine. If he did, they would have no choice but to abandon Fengyun Realm and flee for their lives. Since he had not attacked, they could set their minds at ease.
"Venerable Sword Saint didn't attack you. It seems he can't attack while fusing nine golden cores—at least, not yet," Po Qiong said, then chuckled. "That means you can buy some more time. Maybe, by the time it's up, you'll have broken through to the Near-Saint Thirteenth Heaven. If so, you won't have to fear even Venerable Sword Saint with nine golden cores fused. After all, he'll only be a Near-Saint Fifteenth Heaven expert then."
"I'm afraid his strength is more than that."