The Lord of the Universe naturally knew that Ling Tian could cultivate inside the Eastern Emperor Bell's inner space to increase his strength. Fortunately, Ling Tian had not revealed many of his methods yet, so the Lord of the Universe did not know that time inside the Eastern Emperor Bell's inner space passed a thousand times faster than in the outside world. He therefore had no idea how strong Hua Min'er and the others had become. Most importantly, he did not take them seriously at all. He did not even think Ling Tian would let them join the battle.
Since Hua Min'er and the others would not join the battle, they posed no threat to the Lord of the Universe, so he naturally paid them no mind.
The Lord of the Universe had eyes only for Ling Tian. All he needed to do was stop him from growing stronger, and that was one of the main reasons he had not attacked Ling Tian right away.
Ling Tian understood the Lord of the Universe's thinking. That was precisely why he had not rashly retreated into the Eastern Emperor Bell's inner space. To him, keeping the Lord of the Universe misled and buying Hua Min'er and the others more time mattered more. Besides, as he had said, the combined gains of several thousand people—including Hua Min'er—would far exceed his own, and would help more in the final battle.
For all these reasons, Ling Tian was even less inclined to retreat into the Eastern Emperor Bell's inner space.
Po Qiong and the others understood Ling Tian's reasoning. More importantly, they understood how he felt, and knew that once he had made up his mind, there was no changing it. So they said nothing more.
Ling Tian continued searching far and wide, capturing Purgatory