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

Seven days later, Qiulong Star, Qiulong City.

Zhou Mu stepped through the massive city gate.

The city gate was hundreds of meters high, cast entirely from a dark gold alloy, with intricate energy patterns engraved on its surface. Rows of guards in black armor stood on both sides of the gate.

The city streets are wide and bustling with people.

Bizarre alien creatures walked past him, their skin colors varied and their shapes were all different, giving Zhou Mu the feeling of entering a zoo.

"Master, we need to complete the naturalization process first, join the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, and obtain citizenship."

Babata No. 7's voice echoed in Zhou Mu's mind, "I've located the nearest administrative building, which is over 200 kilometers away."

Zhou Mu took off and flew towards the Babata 7 following its navigation.

The architectural style of Qiulong City is rugged and magnificent, with high-rise buildings standing tall.

Two hundred kilometers was just a few minutes for Zhou Mu at his speed. He landed in front of a huge building, a sculpture of a black dragon coiled on a high mountain. The dragon's body was winding, its wings spread, and its head was lowered, looking down at the crowds below. The entire building was part of the sculpture.

This was the administrative building of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire on Qiulong Star. Zhou Mu went inside and didn't finish the citizenship procedures until two hours later. He then walked out the door, playing with the document that symbolized his citizenship in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire.

He glanced back, shook his head, and said, "These staff members really treat people differently based on their status..."

"Number 7, let's go to the shopping street."

Zhou Mu took off and flew towards the Babata 7 following its navigation.

......

The northern district of Qiulong City.

Zhou Mu followed the street and found a Qibao store, then stepped inside.

This treasure shop occupies a vast area, divided into sections for psychic weapons, force suits, ores, and many other miscellaneous items. Each item has a simulated projection image, and the interplay of light and shadow is dazzling.

A waiter approached him with a warm smile: "Sir, how can I help you?"

"I have a batch of B8 and C8 metals that I need to sell."

"Okay, please follow me."

The waiter smiled and led Zhou Mu into the reception room, where an elderly man with red and blue facial markings was already seated. Upon seeing Zhou Mu enter, he smiled and said, "Please have a seat, sir."

Zhou Mu took out several pieces of Xuan Iron Essence and Xuan Iron Mother from his spatial ring. The old man took them, measured their purity with an instrument, and nodded: "Good purity. How many are there?"

"30,000 tons of refined black iron and 2 tons of mother black iron."

The old man did some calculations and quoted a price: "The current market price for refined black iron is 50 Black Dragon Coins per ton, so 3 tons would be 150 million. Black iron mother is 46 Black Dragon Coins per ton, so two tons would be 92, for a total of 242 million Black Dragon Coins."

Zhou Mu nodded: "Deal."

He had already opened a bank account at the Cosmic Galaxy Bank, and 242 million Black Dragon Coins had been deposited into his account. Including the 500 Qianwu Coins given by Babata, his assets now amounted to 292 million Black Dragon Coins.

The money wasn't much, but there wasn't much else to do. The price of those Martian ores was already pretty good.

After completing the metal transaction, Zhou Mu returned to the Qibao Shop and asked the old man, "Do you have any high-energy materials here?"

The old man led him to another counter, where several virtual projections were floating. Zhou Mu was very familiar with the first one: Mu Ya Jing.

The old man began to introduce the product: "Muya Crystal is a high-energy substance containing life energy. After use, it can greatly enhance cell activity in a short period of time. It is an essential artifact for treating severed hands and feet. It costs 1000 Qianwu Coins per crystal, which is equivalent to 100 million Black Dragon Coins per crystal. I will not cheat you, young or old."

One million each? With the little money he has, he can't even buy three. Babata has plenty of these.

Zhou Mu didn't speak, but looked at the Azure Wave Marrow beside him. It was a green, mercury-like liquid that faintly shimmered with light. It was marked 9000 Black Dragon Coins per gram, making it much more cost-effective than the Wooden Crystal.

292 million can buy more than 300 grams.

"Give me 300 grams of Azure Wave Marrow."

The old man took out 300 grams of Bibo Marrow from the warehouse and placed it in a fist-sized glass bottle, where a strange green liquid rippled.

"Sir, this is 300 grams of Bibo marrow. Please keep it safe."

Zhou Mu nodded and accepted it, spending 270 million Black Dragon Coins before carefully storing the bottle in his spatial ring.

He suddenly remembered that in the original story, when Luo Feng first came to Qiulong Star, that kid sold a curved blade and directly bought 30 kilograms of Bibo Marrow.

30 kilograms is 30000 grams; his money isn't even enough for a fraction of that.

People are more mad than people.

Zhou Mu sighed and walked out of Qibao Store.

"Master, is there anything else we need to buy?" Babata No. 7 asked.

"Virtual Universe Company's consciousness-sensing helmet."

Zhou Mu said.

With the consciousness-sensing helmet, he could enter the virtual universe and contact Earth at any time. The 10 Chaos Units that Babata had promised him should have arrived by now.

......

Qiulong City, Virtual Universe Company.

"Sir, is there anything I can do for you?" A young woman with cat ears greeted him with a standard smile and a friendly tone at the counter.

"To open an account, I also need ten virtual reality headsets and ten anonymous accounts."

"Okay, processing your request. How much do you need to pay for the Virtual Universe Network at once? There are three options: 100 years, 1000 years, and 10000 years. The annual fee is 10 Black Dragon Coins or 0.008 Qianwu Coins."

"One hundred years, I suppose."

"The consciousness-sensing helmet costs 10 Black Dragon Coins each, or 2000 Black Dragon Coins for an anonymous account, or 1.6 Qianwu Coins. It is valid for 100 years. Your total cost is 16.8 Qianwu Coins or 21000 Black Dragon Coins."

Zhou Mu nodded, paid the remaining 17 Qianwu coins, and completed the account opening procedures.

"Sir, your 10 anonymous accounts have been linked to the consciousness-sensing helmet. Here is your change. Thank you for your patronage."

Zhou Mu casually put the sensor helmet into his spatial ring and left the Virtual Universe Company. People came and went on the street, and no one noticed him. He stood on the side of the street, watching all kinds of aliens walk past him, and suddenly felt that the universe was so vast, and he had only just begun.

"The final link in creating the clone is complete," Zhou Mu thought to himself.

The creation of a clone requires an absolutely safe environment. He was not familiar with Qiulong Star, and it was a bustling trading planet with many powerful individuals, making it unsuitable as a place for seclusion.

The best option is to return to Earth. In the original story, the adventurers from Mount Noran who discovered Earth have already been dealt with by him. Furthermore, the Milky Way has a spatial secret technique left by Hu Yanbo to conceal the coordinates, making it the safest option.

With that thought in mind, Zhou Mu no longer lingered and transformed into a streak of light, heading towards the port of Qiulong Star.

"Number 7, find the route back to the port, complete the departure procedures, we're going home!"

......

In the port, Zhou Mu stepped into the Black Dragon Mountain spaceship. The hatch closed immediately, and the spaceship slowly took off and left the berth. The land of Qiulong Star grew smaller and smaller in the field of vision.

Soon, the spaceship left the gravitational pull of the planet Qiulong, and the starry sky became pure and deep.

"Initiating acceleration, preparing to enter the dark universe."

The night sky began to distort, the stars stretched out and transformed into streaks of white light that swept past. The lights grew denser and faster, until they merged into one, leaving only a chaotic stream of light outside the window.

"The spaceship has entered the dark universe, currently traveling at 1.3 times the speed of light, and is expected to arrive at its destination in 11 days."