Unfortunately, no matter how he tried to warm her, he couldn't prevent her from becoming colder and colder. His anxiety grew, and his mind began to race. Eventually, he bit at his wrist and tried to pour his blood into her mouth. He smiled.

"It's fine. Everything's going to be fine," he murmured. Eventually, he passed out.

He was now alone in the cave. Everyone else had left. The only ones who stayed behind were the corpses.

After some time passed, he woke up again. He reached out to touch his wife, and she was as cold as ice. Little Treasure went mad. He ripped open his other wrist with his teeth to pour more blood into her mouth, but her mouth had frozen shut.

"Drink it," he murmured. "Drink my blood and you'll be fine! It's warm... Don't get any colder, please...." Tears streamed down his face as he babbled on. Eventually, he wrapped his arms around her corpse and wept.

The sound of his wailing echoed out in the cave until the wind rose up and drowned it out.

He was soon overwhelmed with a feeling of complete and utter loneliness. But then, strangely, he wasn't afraid any more.

He stroked his wife's face, feeling how cold it was, and softly said, "You know, back when we got married, I knew something that my dad and mom never knew. You're not a mortal. You're an Immortal."

His eyes had no pupils, and yet, they seemed to radiate warmth.

"How could I not know that the person who saved me in the forest was you?" He continued to stroke her face, wiping away the frost that was forming. From his expression, it was clear that he was thinking about the past.

"Back then," he murmured, "I knew that you had to be one of those legendary Immortals, and yet, I couldn't figure out why you would choose me....

"Sometimes when you were looking at me, though, I could sense that the person you saw wasn't me....

"The person you truly loved wasn't me, was it? It was your Master.

"I'm blind, unable to see the world that the rest of you live in. But the world that exists in my heart, is a world that none of you can see. And there is something about that world that no one could possibly know...." Little Treasure smiled as he talked to his wife.

"I'll tell you, okay? I've never told anyone before, not even my parents....

"I've seen people before, in my world. They lived on different continents, and they lived different lives than mine. One was very happy, one was a businessman, one was a hunter. One of them wielded incredible power. Another was a coroner, and there was even an assassin....

"There was another person, an Immortal, and he had an apprentice named Yan'er. She looked a lot like you." He smiled faintly.

"Do you know why I've been working on this little sculpture? It's because all of those other people. All of them have been insisting that I have to finish sculpting it. I have to finish making this wooden statue. I have to force the Heavens open their eyes, or to close their eyes.

"Having the power to force them to close their eyes isn't enough. What those other people want… is the power of absolute control over the eyes of the Heavens. To FORCE them to open their eyes. If I want the Heavens to close their eyes, they will have no choice but to comply!" Little Treasure chuckled. Stroking his wife's freezing face one more, he turned his head and said, "Am I right?"

Although Little Treasure was blind, when he spoke those words, he was looking directly at a person. A person who was standing right behind him.

It was none other than Meng Hao.

Meng Hao looked down at Little Treasure, his eyes shining with bright, piercing light.

As of this moment, his heart was pounding.

The development he had most feared... had occurred.

Something had occurred which made it so that Meng Hao was incapable of controlling the ninth reincarnation of his clone. Perhaps there was something unique about the ninth reincarnation's body, or perhaps it was a result of using the incomplete eight sealing marks of the Ninth Hex when he was outside the Vast Expanse.

For whatever reason, Meng Hao had been very reluctant to interfere. Eventually, when he finally gave in and tried to do something, he met with resistance. And now, he found that something completely unexpected had occurred.

The ninth reincarnation was him, but obviously, had developed an independent mind. He was different from the previous reincarnations. He could not be controlled.

Although Little Treasure couldn't see the world around him, he somehow seemed to be looking directly at Meng Hao as he said, "I could sense a thread connecting me to all eight of those people who appeared in my world. And that thread connected to someone else, too.

"That person is you.

"My guess is that I am your clone. Yan'er's Master was also your clone. Am I right?"

After a moment of silence, Meng Hao said, "Yes. Both you and the other reincarnations you saw were created for a single purpose. To complete my Ninth Hex."

Little Treasure nodded thoughtfully. "So that's how it is. And what about her? Was she really your apprentice?"

Meng Hao looked down at Yan'er. Without her, this ninth reincarnation would have long since died. "She was the apprentice of my clone. In her previous life, I came to owe her a huge debt."

By this point, Little Treasure looked very, very old. "What about my daughter? Well, I guess she's your daughter too, right?"

"She's safe," Meng Hao replied softly. "In the Ninth Sect on the ninth continent."

"I guess we've reached the end of it all. I... have no last words to say, I suppose." Little Treasure sat there quietly. After enough time had passed for an incense stick to burn, he reached down and pulled the wooden statue out from his wife's garment. He rubbed the wood, and sighed.

"I really hate the idea of other people controlling my destiny. Even when that person is my true self. I still hate it.

"You know, I could sever the thread that connects the two of us at any time." Little Treasure picked up his sculpting knife, and in that moment, he somehow seemed to possess the power to sever Karma.

If he did, then it wouldn't matter if the Ninth Hex were completed, Meng Hao would not be able to even touch it.

Meng Hao stood there silently.

Little Treasure looked over at his wife, grief playing across his face. After a long moment, his knife moved. He didn't sever the thread, but instead, began to sculpt the wood.

He cut with incredible speed, as if he were pouring all the power of his life into his work. Gradually, the eighth reincarnation appeared behind him, then the seventh, the sixth, the fifth... all the way to the first.

Nine reincarnations were all contained in one body. Together, they controlled the knife, causing the final sealing mark of the Ninth Hex to gradually take shape. Outside, thunder boomed. It seemed enraged, and its roars filled the world. Wind screamed, and snow battered the lands.

It was in that moment that Little Treasure's knife stopped moving. The wooden statue was ninety-nine percent complete. It only required one more knife stroke.

"It's difficult to perfect something I've never touched...." he murmured. Instantly, his soul, as well as the images of the other eight reincarnations, suddenly flew out of the cave. As the will of Allheaven roared up above, they shot high into the sky, touching the Heavens, feeling the will of Allheaven.

For the first time ever, the will of Allheaven trembled. For the first time, it felt fear. For the first time... it retreated.

That was Little Treasure's aura, in the form of the eight incarnations. It was also a Heaven-Sealing aura!

That aura was the result of the nine perfected sealing marks. After combining, they formed the true... Seal the Heavens Hex!

As soon as it appeared, it spread out to fill Heaven and Earth. In the starry sky of Allheaven, the will of Allheaven which existed everywhere was now shaking, and the fear it felt continued to mount. Thunder boomed, and the clouds churned. It appeared as if the will of Allheaven were truly being forced to flee!

It was pushed out of the first continent, pushed out of the lands. The Seal the Heavens Hex might have seemed weak initially, but it actually existed on a completely different level than the other Hexes. In fact... it existed on a higher level than the will of Allheaven. It was a power that caused even that will to be completely shocked!

This was Meng Hao's Ninth Hex, the Seal the Heavens Hex!

"I felt it," Little Treasure said, smiling. He opened his eyes. All of the other reincarnations also smiled. Then, they merged together, transforming into a beam of light that shot back down to the lands below, back into the cave, to Little Treasure's body. Then he lifted his knife to make the final cut on the wooden statue.

Boom!

The knife cut the wood, and the statue was complete!

The nine sealing marks of the Ninth Hex, the Seal the Heavens Hex, were, as of this moment... complete. The entire starry sky of Allheaven began to shake and tremble. A tempest sprang up with Planet Vast Expanse at the center. It spread out, wider and wider, covering everything.

In that moment, the barrier which had surrounded the first continent began to fragment and crack. A moment later, it exploded, sending a huge shockwave out in all directions!

All of the snow on the first continent melted instantly, transforming into a mist that rose up into the air. The mist was then caught by the wind, and vanished!

The lands were restored. The plains appeared again. Mountains stood tall. Cities reappeared. Even the First Sect could be seen again.

At the same time, an indescribable power filled the lands, causing grass to sprout on the plains. The withered trees in the forests suddenly began to grow again, and all of the mountains became lush with vegetation.