Swallowing the Stars: Only in my later years did I come to the life-spending panel.

A figure in black stepped out of the silver-white fighter jet.

Without any equipment or any cushioning action, he stepped directly down from a height of 100 meters, crashing down in front of Lu Gang like a meteorite.

boom!!!

The ground exploded, and debris flew everywhere.

Centered on that dark figure, all the rat-beasts within a hundred meters were simultaneously blasted away, and the sound of bones shattering could be clearly heard.

Amidst the smoke and dust, a white-haired man dressed in a black outfit and carrying a long spear slowly straightened up. His gaze swept over the swarming rats around him, finally settling on Lu Gang, who was kneeling on one knee, supported by his battle sword behind him.

"Thank you for your hard work," the man said indifferently without turning his head. "Leave the rest to me."

Lu Gang looked up, his pupils suddenly contracting in his previously desperate eyes.

Clad in black armor and wielding a dark spear, with faint traces of deep purple lightning swirling around him, he was none other than Zhou Mu, the legendary figure of Jiangnan Base City, the newly appointed councilor of the War God Palace, and the Spear Master.

"Zhou Mu... Lord..." Lu Gang's voice was hoarse.

Zhou Mu nodded slightly and raised his hand to signal him not to move.

His gaze then passed over Lu Gang and landed on the Rat King crouching atop the ruins.

That was the instigator of this rat swarm, a high-level lord-level being, a terrifying monster that would make any war god-level powerhouse take it seriously.

"roar!!!!"

The Rat King seemed to sense the danger and let out a sharp screech. Thousands upon thousands of rat beasts turned at the same time, surging towards Zhou Mu like a black tide.

Zhou Mu smiled faintly and raised his right hand.

In the void, twelve scarlet lights suddenly shone.

That was Zhou Mu's second-tier psychic weapon, [Thousand Mountains Blood], consisting of twelve thick, slightly curved, diamond-shaped blades, each as wide as a door panel, and its entire body was a deep scarlet red.

They hovered around Zhou Mu, slowly rotating like twelve crimson waning moons.

"Blood River".

Twelve blades shot out simultaneously.

Instead of directly slaying the charging rat-like beasts, they began to spin rapidly around Zhou Mu and Lu Gang. The blades spun faster and faster, instantly forming a massive crimson vortex that firmly protected the two at its center.

The rat-like beasts that pounced on them had no time to react before being swept into the whirlpool.

"squeak!!"

The agonizing screams were shattered as soon as they rang out. The beast-general-level iron-haired giant rats were crushed, torn, and shredded by twelve heavy blades with unparalleled force in the crimson vortex, like soybeans falling into a millstone.

The sound of bones shattering was as dense as popping beans, and a spray of bright red blood mist gushed out, only to be instantly torn into nothingness by the swirling air currents.

One.

Ten heads.

One hundred heads.

Data lines flashed across the panel of the Shouyuan Furnace.

[Slay an Apprentice-level Tier 4 Iron-haired Giant Rat and plunder 15 years of its remaining lifespan]

……

[Slay an Apprentice-level Tier 5 Iron-haired Giant Rat and plunder 30 years of its remaining lifespan]

……

[Slay an Apprentice-level Tier 6 Iron-haired Giant Rat and plunder 35 years of its remaining lifespan]

……

In less than five breaths, all the hundreds of beast general-level rat beasts that had come to attack disappeared.

They weren't killed, they were crushed.

Not even a single intact bone was left.

Lu Gang remained kneeling on one knee, leaning on his weapon, staring at the still-swirling crimson vortex around him, watching the blood mist being swept up and torn apart by the airflow, his entire body seemingly petrified.

What... what is this?

Those are all Beast General level beasts! Any one of them, if released outside, would be enough to make a Warrior General level warrior fight to the death. Faced with the siege of these hundreds of Beast General level monsters, even a high-level War God level warrior would probably not be able to escape unscathed and would only be able to break through and flee for their lives.

Before this whirlpool of blood, they were easily crushed into dust like ants.

The vortex slowly dissipated, and the twelve pieces of Thousand Mountains Blood floated again around Zhou Mu.

Zhou Mu's gaze swept over the wreckage and landed on the Rat King.

The Rat King seemed to finally realize what kind of being was before him, let out a screech, and turned to flee.

But Zhou Mu was even faster than him.

Qianshan Blood shot out again, twelve scarlet blades flying at high speed through the air, catching up with the Rat King in the blink of an eye.

Under Zhou Mu's control of his mental power, the twelve heavy blades suddenly spliced ​​together in mid-air, instantly forming a giant heavy sword about ten meters long.

[A thousand mountains, a single blade!]

The heavy sword slashed down from mid-air.

boom!!!

The top of the ruins where the Rat King was located was cleaved open by this sword, sending rubble flying and dust billowing into the sky.

squeak! ! !

The Rat King let out a sharp scream, and countless rat beasts leaped up to form a flesh shield in front of him, only to be easily sliced ​​through like butter by the blood-red greatsword.

Taking advantage of the moment when the rat beast blocked its path, the Rat King desperately leaped to the side, barely avoiding the fatal blow.

But before it could even feel relieved, Zhou Mu had already made his move.

The dark figure left a trail of afterimages in the air, the Chasing Spear in its hand already extended.

The spear flashed like lightning, carrying the force of a thunderbolt, and thrust out the instant the Rat King landed and had not yet regained his footing.

puff! ! !

The spear pierced the Rat King's skull and pinned it to the broken arm in the ruins.

The Rat King's body convulsed violently, its powerful vitality as a high-level lord causing it to frantically scratch at the rubble beneath it, leaving deep claw marks.

But Zhou Mu's shot pinned it down firmly, and no matter how much it struggled, it couldn't budge it an inch.

Blood flowed down the gun barrel and dripped onto the ground, making a soft, crackling sound.

Zhou Mu gripped the gun barrel with one hand, looking down at the still convulsing Rat King, his expression as calm as if he were looking at an ant.

With a surge of power, the tip of the spear in his hand trembled, and the fierce light in the Rat King's eyes gradually faded until he was completely lifeless.

[Slaying a Level 9 Apprentice Shadow Rat, plundering 120 year of remaining lifespan.]

The entire battlefield suddenly fell silent.

The frantically surging swarm of rats froze the moment the Rat King's aura dissipated. They looked around blankly, and without the Rat King's command, they began to scatter in all directions like a tide.

Zhou Mu snorted coldly, and his deep purple domain instantly spread out from him. Any rat-beasts covered by the domain were suppressed to the ground by the immense pressure and then blasted to death by countless deep purple lightning bolts.

Zhou Mu retrieved the spear that had pinned the Rat King to death. The Rat King's corpse fell from the broken wall and hit the ground with a thud. He then rose from the sky and chased after the scattered rat beasts.

[Slaying a Level 2 Apprentice Shadow Rat, plundering 1 year of remaining lifespan.]

......

[Slaying a Level 3 Apprentice Shadow Rat, plundering 1 year of remaining lifespan.]

......

[Slaying a Level 1 Apprentice Shadow Rat, plundering 1 second of remaining lifespan.]

Countless prompts flowed across the panel.

"Does killing a low-level beast soldier now only plunder 1 second of lifespan? It seems the stats only allow for lifespan plundering up to one major realm, otherwise it will be greatly reduced. Otherwise, this rat swarm could have given me tens of thousands of years' worth of lifespan resources."

Zhou Mu ended his pursuit of the remaining rat beasts, a look of regret on his face.

The data on the panel has now been updated.

[Shouyuan Furnace]

Name: Zhou Mu

Realm: Planetary Level 1 Spiritual Master, Apprentice Level 9 Martial Artist

Skills: Lightning Domain, First Stage Perfection (can be deduced), Nine-Layer Lightning Blade, Fourth Stage Perfection (can be deduced), World Annihilation, Eighth Stage Perfection (can be deduced)...

Current lifespan: 932 years

Current lifespan stolen: 9234 years