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

Most of the surrounding steel bases have disappeared, leaving a huge, empty hole thousands of meters deep on the Martian surface.

"Truly worthy of the bottomless pit-like [Devouring Void] talent."

Zhou Mu's human form hovered in mid-air, looking at the bare hole in front of him, and couldn't help but gasp.

The energy derived from nearly 100 million tons of black iron from most of the Class A metal base barely alleviated the intense hunger and replenished the nutritional deficiencies during the gestation stage!

"This clone of mine is a gold-devouring behemoth!"

Zhou Mu shook his head helplessly. With a thought, he put the Cangyin Giant clone, who was full and digesting, into his spatial ring. As a special life form with a natural affinity for spatial laws, the Cangyin Giant did not experience any discomfort while briefly dormant in the spatial ring.

To feed this gold-devouring behemoth and make it shine, we must search the universe for earth and space-attribute treasures!

Zhou Mufei flew into the Black Dragon Mountain X81 spaceship, which was hovering in mid-air and waiting. "Number Seven, start the spaceship, 100% exterior simulation."

"boom!"

A brilliant blue light shot out from the bottom of the spaceship, which soared into the sky and plunged headlong into the boundless, cold starry sky.

It then trembled slightly, and the surrounding starry sky instantly stretched into countless brilliant rays of light, before traversing into the dark universe.

In the luxurious lounge of the Black Dragon Mountain X81 spaceship, Zhou Mu leaned back on a soft sofa, his thoughts drifting away.

"According to the original timeline, there are still many years until the peak genius battle."

Zhou Mu pointed to his fingertip, his eyes deep, his mind racing.

The Battle of the Ultimate Geniuses is a testing ground for the most outstanding geniuses of all humanity in the entire Swallowed Star World! Only by standing out in the Battle of the Ultimate Geniuses can one truly enter the sights of the higher-ups of the Virtual Universe Company and receive countless top-tier resources for cultivation!

This is the stage he must step onto.

"My current human form is at the third level of the Celestial Realm, possessing profound understanding of the Law of Lightning and having just entered the threshold of the Law of Time. I can also leverage the Cangyin Giant's affinity with the Laws of Earth and Space to quickly comprehend these two great laws..."

"In terms of aptitude and combat strength, I'm already comparable to Berlan, the Grim Reaper from the original work! But that's not enough, far from enough!"

Zhou Mu was well aware of his current shortcomings. Although he had achieved an incredible record of a thousand consecutive victories in the virtual universe's killing field, it was ultimately just a virtual battle, and only in the small corner of the Black Dragon Mountain Star Region.

Without experiencing the brutal trials of life and death in reality, and without squeezing out his potential in dire straits, his magnificent understanding of the laws is like a castle in the air, lacking a solid foundation.

Moreover, his first clone was a gold-devouring behemoth capable of bankrupting even the poorest immortal gods!

"The Azure Giant Avatar has just devoured most of an A-grade Xuan Iron base, barely replenishing its origin and advancing to the Heng-level. Its subsequent growth, as well as the cultivation of 'Law of Heaven and Earth,' 'Shrinking the Earth to an Inch,' and 'Azure World Armor,' will all require a massive amount of high-grade resources."

"I need money, I need massive resources, and even more so, I need real-world experience that puts me to the brink of death!"

Zhou Mu raised his head, clenched his fists tightly, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"Cosmic Mercenary Alliance!"

This is the optimal solution he has selected in his mind.

The Cosmic Mercenary Alliance is the most loosely organized yet largest force in this vast universe, and it is also the only path for all martial artists and spiritual practitioners who yearn for a breakthrough between life and death.

......

A few days later, in the Black Dragon Mountain Starfield, on the Star of the Dragon.

Zhou Mu stepped into a magnificent building that was incredibly imposing, with huge shields and swords crossed. This was the branch of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance on Qiulong Star.

He strode into the hall and headed straight for the service window.

"Hello, sir, how may I help you?" A beautiful receptionist with a fluffy fox tail smiled and bowed.

"Register for the Space Mercenary Trainee Entrance Exam."

A hint of surprise flashed in the fox-tailed girl's eyes, but she quickly brought up the virtual screen: "Okay, please show your proof of being a resident of the universe."

Zhou Mu raised his wrist, and the intelligent computer emitted a beam of light, completing the scan.

"Identity verified, Mr. Zhou Mu."

The fox-tailed girl operated the controls quickly, "Our Black Dragon Mountain Star Region's recent trainee mercenary assessment location is set in the World Lord's World within [Canglan Star]."

"Assessment task requirements: Go to the core area of ​​the Realm Lord's World on Canglan Star and obtain three 'Wind Horn Stones' and one 'One-Horned Iron Rhinoceros' horn."

"Is it still Canglan Star...?"

Zhou Mu's gaze sharpened. The Canglan Star in the original work was the planet where Luo Feng had entered the Realm Within a Realm!

"Registration confirmed." Zhou Mu said without the slightest hesitation.

"Registration successful. Your assessment certificate has been entered into your Adventure Card. Please go to the designated meeting point within one month to participate in the assessment. We wish you success in your assessment."

Zhou Mu took the adventure card handed to him by the fox-tailed girl, turned around and walked out of the Mercenary Alliance building.

"We have a month to prepare before heading to Canglan Star. My current equipment can't keep up with my progress, so I'll take this opportunity to upgrade."

A calm smile appeared on Zhou Mu's lips. He was no longer the penniless wretch with only a few million Black Dragon Coins he had a few months ago.

His account still contains a huge sum of money that Babata paid to compensate Luo Feng for giving up the Golden Horned Beast!

A full 10 Mixed Yuan Units!

Some powerful realm lords couldn't earn this much in their entire lives!

"Wealth should not be flaunted, but before heading to Canglan Star, it must be converted into immediate combat power!"

Zhou Mu changed course and headed to the treasure shop where he had previously purchased the Azure Wave Marrow.

Upon entering the Qibao store, Zhou Mu wasted no time and immediately told the receptionist his needs, "I need to buy a Tier 3 weapon, the best kind."

After some searching, Zhou Mu's gaze settled on two items.

"A third-tier superior-grade psychic weapon, the [Thunder Prison Drill], is composed of 108 flying blades containing the secret runes of the fundamental laws of lightning. When gathered together, it can transform into a thunder drill, and when dispersed, it can set up a Thunder Prison Array. I want it."

"And this spear, the [Purple Lightning Dragon Spear], is also a Tier 3 superior-grade Force weapon. The spear body is extremely tough and has a 300% conduction amplitude for lightning Force, making it very suitable for my lightning domain. I want it too."

After selecting the weapons, Zhou Mu's procurement did not end.

"Also, I need a batch of treasures sufficient to cultivate planetary plant life to the cosmic level, as well as all the rare earth and space-attribute treasures you have here, bring them all out."

After half an hour.

Zhou Mu walked out of the Qibao store, his spatial ring already filled with various resources.

[Thunder Prison Drill], [Purple Thunder Dragon Spear], mountains of green wood crystal marrow and nutrient solution, as well as various rare earth-attribute raw stones and silver metals radiating spatial fluctuations, forming a small hill.

"The total cost was 1200 billion Black Dragon Coins."

Zhou Mu stared at the remaining amount in his account without blinking. 1200 billion Black Dragon Coins was nothing compared to his 10 Mixed Yuan Coins, but it brought him a real leap in strength.

Back inside the spaceship docked in the shipyard, Zhou Mu summoned Mo Yun, and a crimson vine appeared in the cabin.

"Moyun, eat to your heart's content!"

Zhou Mu generously fed the Moyun Vine a large amount of Azure Wood Crystal Marrow. This plant had been subdued by him on Earth but had never had a good meal. It was only at the sixth level of the planetary stage. Now that he was rich, it was time for it to grow and evolve.

Then, his consciousness sank into the spatial ring.

Inside the ring, the over 300-meter-tall Cangyin Giant avatar looked at the mountain of earth and space attribute artifacts and let out an excited roar.

"Swallow the Ruins! Swallow them all!"

As the [Devouring Ruins] talent was activated, the ore mountain worth hundreds of billions of Black Dragon Coins was swallowed up by a black hole, turning into a torrent of pure primordial energy that was frantically injected into the body of the Azure Giant, strengthening its cells and repairing its malnourished foundation!