As Saine rapidly acquired knowledge, his realm continued to rise and his foundations continued to deepen.
In truth, advancing from the level-8 peak to the half-level-9 realm was no easy feat.
Of all the level-8 peak Demon Ancestors throughout the Evil Tide Civilization's history, how many had successfully reached half-level-9?
Of course, even reaching the level-8 peak was extremely difficult.
In the Material Star Realm, every advancement in a life-form's level was a hurdle, and the further one progressed, the harder breakthroughs became.
Even now, with the core arcane truth of Source Energy City in Saine's grasp and vast amounts of its knowledge and origin rules pouring into him, he could not simply advance to half-level-9 on the spot.
Half-nine was still a long way off.
Saine even suspected that, once Source Energy City was fully assembled and fused with his God of Machines, he might still fail to complete his advancement from the level-8 peak to the half-level-9 realm.
The God of Machines was the God of Machines, and Saine was Saine. The two could not be conflated.
However, the God of Machines' progress toward a higher domain would undoubtedly expand Saine's knowledge enormously and enhance his overall strength.
Just as it did now: although Saine himself was only at the level-8 peak, he was confident he could hold his own against a half-level-9 being like Mandara even without the God of Machines' external support.
For Saine, it was not his realm that set the limit on his strength, but his knowledge!
As Source Energy City underwent fusion and the Undying Supreme faced off against the Enlightenment Prophet in the rear, Saine ordered the God of Machines to enter Auto-Pilot mode and bombard Mandara before him.
Meanwhile, further upheavals were unfolding on the Dimensional Battlefield.
As Gray Mist