Zhixiang was beautiful. She had been beautiful when she was young, and even in her old age, her hair white, her face full of wrinkles, she was still beautiful.

During those thousand years, one person after another passed away.

Every time someone familiar to him closed their eyes for the final time, Meng Hao's pain grew. Sometimes he laughed bitterly. He could seal the Heavens, but when it came to this curse, he was helpless.

The curse of Allheaven was a torment. It was a torment to whoever had killed him. That person would remain alone for all time, watching time pass, watching the blue seas turn into lush fields.

It was a tactic, a scheme. When Allheaven grew incredibly weak, he could use that scheming tactic to cause his enemy's heart to rot.

It was only by such means that Allheaven would have a chance at victory!

Meng Hao was well aware of this fact. However, he couldn't simply turn off his feelings. He couldn't disregard what was happening. When his foster father Ke Yunhai eventually grew weak and approached death, he wept. He knelt in front of Ke Yunhai's bed like a child, tears flowing.

"Why are you crying...?" Ke Yunhai said, his voice soft with love. "I've been able to live for thousands of years. I've been able to spend time with you, and with Jiusi. I'm content with that...." He reached out and patted Meng Hao's head, and then the light in his eyes slowly faded away.

Throughout those thousand years, many people died. Overall, though, the cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm grew strong. Many powerful experts appeared. As for the members of the older generation, as they became aware of the situation with the curse, they also withdrew from the public. Soon, there really was a brand new Mountain and Sea Realm.

Wars began, wars fought between the Mountains and Seas. Because of the natural laws of the realm, though, such wars were limited in scope.

Years passed. Another thousand. One by one, the older cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm passed away. Ksitigarbha was among them.

Before his time came, he went to see Meng Hao and Xu Qing. His face was old, and filled with a warmth and kindness that he rarely let others see.

The very night he came to see them, he slipped away quietly into death.

Next was Grandpa Meng, and after him, Grandpa Fang. Then Fan Dong'er. One by one, Meng Hao's fellow clan members died, as did his friends. Each death was like a knife that stabbed him in the heart.

By this time, Xu Qing's hair was white. And yet, she didn't die. Meng Hao fed her with his own blood, which was rich with life force.

But that didn't stop her from withering with age. Eventually, it reached the point where she could do little more than lay in bed. Despite that, her tender feelings for Meng Hao never left her eyes. It was as if looking at him for an entire lifetime wasn't enough for her.

And yet, she didn't seem resentful. Instead, she was content to have been able to spend the past thousands of years with him. The only thing she regretted was that she had not borne him any children. It wasn't that she didn't want to. Rather, she chose not to.

She didn't want her own children to suffer under the ravages of the curse....

Time turned into a river that flowed by ever-so-slowly. Another thousand years passed. By now, the number of people who had passed away was unthinkable. Countless cultivators of the older generation had returned to the dust. Only a handful of people who had fought in the ancient Mountain and Sea War remained.

Shui Dongliu managed to hold on for thousands of years. But eventually, he too was forced to close his eyes in death. Before passing away, he smiled, and pressed a jade slip into Meng Hao's palm. Then he looked at Meng Hao, wise and farsighted light flickering in his eyes.

"Don't forget.... After you look at that jade slip, commit its contents to heart, and then destroy it. They are my deductions regarding... the method to lift the curse!"

After taking the jade slip, Meng Hao collected Shui Dongliu's soul seed and took it to the ice mountain. He examined the jade slip, then destroyed it. The gleam of obsession could be seen deep in his eyes.

More time passed. The few people who had managed to hold on for this long were finally succumbing to their longevity. Eventually, Patriarch Reliance chose to enter a state of deep slumber, which would extend his life to an almost unlimited degree.

A few hundred years later, one of Meng Hao's immediate family members left him.

It was Fang Yu, his older sister. She and Sun Hai had held on for many years, enduring the pain of watching entire generations of their children die one after another.

When the last of their beloved offspring passed away, they closed their eyes, held hands, and died together as husband and wife.

After collecting their soul strands, Meng Hao stood there quietly for a long time, thinking about past times. He thought about how his sister had always protected him. He didn't realize it, but tears welled up in his eyes until they spilled down his cheeks. Off to the side were his parents, overwhelmed with grief, weeping.

Deep in his heart, Meng Hao said, "I swear that I will start the cycle of reincarnation again... for all of you!"

After Fang Yu and Sun Hai died, six hundred years passed. By that time, there were only a few people in the Mountain and Sea Realm who remained from that early group. Other than Xu Qing, Meng Hao, and Meng Hao's parents, there was Wang Youcai, Fatty, Dong Hu, and Pill Demon. There was also Chu Yuyan, although she was still unwilling to awaken.

Everyone else had returned to the dust, their soul seeds taken away by Meng Hao.

Because of Meng Hao's blood, Xu Qing barely held on. Meng Hao's parents were sustained because of having fused with the Mountain and Sea Butterfly. Dong Hu managed to hang on because of the miraculous pearl. As for Pill Demon, he was the incarnation of a medicinal pill, and was thus able to endure longer than most.

The first to give out was Wang Youcai. When his longevity ran out, he died laughing. Meng Hao felt stabs of pain in his heart. He placed Wang Youcai's soul seed in the ice cave, and once again he wept.

However, even more painful than the death of Wang Youcai was... Fatty.

He and Fatty had been brothers for life. They began to walk the path of cultivation together, all the way down to this day. On the eve of Fatty's death, he was no longer fat. His body had wasted away until he was little more than skin and bones. He had watched all of his wives pass away, and all of his sons and daughters.

As he lay there quietly looking at Meng Hao, he wanted to laugh, but couldn't find the energy.

"Fudge.... Meng Hao, you have to take out Allheaven for me.... You have to win. When you finally manage to break the curse and send me into reincarnation, make sure I remember my previous life...." Fatty took his last breath, and used it to let out a powerful shout. Having expended his last bit of energy, he closed his eyes.

That year, many wrinkles appeared on Meng Hao's face.

Compared to the Mountain and Sea Realm, far fewer deaths occurred on Planet Vast Expanse. Although they did occur, because the Karmic connections there were not as deep, it did not affect a significant number of people. As for the few whose Karmic connections to Meng Hao were strong, they too would have a limited lifespan. However, since they had such strong cultivation bases, their lifespans had not come to an end as of yet.

Furthermore, if they could reach Transcendence, then the curse would not affect them.