Answering my own question about the new target SDK requirements: I got some yet-to-be-official news from the Google Play team and it turns out the warning message I got is a bug. Older APKs not targeting API 33 can safely stay published after August 31 as long as new APKs target API 33+.
#AndroidDev
@bladecoder I got an email saying 34.
@khemicalkoder API 34 devices are not there yet. It will be enforced next year