From the situation of that world still being under Divine Realm domination at that time, although the World Consciousness had a certain thinking capability, its level of evolution was still insufficient for it to become an independent entity.
Therefore, even though the World Consciousness at that time did suppress the living beings cultivating Abyssal Power upon discovering it, its actions were merely basic measures, such as weakening the opponents' attacks and causing various troubles for those living beings. Beyond that, it didn't really exert full strength to eliminate them.
Thus, while that World Consciousness's performance surprised Zhou Tian and was indeed not what he hoped to see, its reaction was not enough to scare him off. Seeing that its suppressive measures were insufficient to directly threaten the lives of those living beings, Zhou Tian intended to continue with his plan of annexing that world despite knowing the difficulty involved.
"I relish such a challenge!"
