"If he hadn't imposed a restriction on himself many years ago that prevented him from self-destructing, he would have died long ago."
Ancient One's words confused Luo Xia somewhat, but he quickly received an explanation.
"Time is the most merciless thing in the world. It can not only wear away life, but also erode willpower. The instinct to survive exists for reproduction. When we were merely single-celled organisms, we had not yet formed individual wills; the survival of the entire species was what mattered.
"Only after growing into adults and developing all kinds of desires do we wish to live longer. It is simply that, for most people, extending their lives is nearly impossible. But once an intelligent life-form truly achieves immortality and surpasses the limits of its lifespan, its body will not age, yet its soul will still be eroded by time.
"All intelligent life has self-destructive tendencies. After completing the task of inheritance and reproduction, life should naturally return to death. This comes from the very essence of our lives. Ancient cosmic life-forms like Ego are no exception. He has lived for too long. If his soul were not resilient enough, he should have killed himself and died long ago.
"Ego possesses vast knowledge and understood this possibility very early on, so he imposed a restriction upon himself. No matter what happened, he could never actively commit suicide. In his view, as long as he did not kill himself, no one could kill him. And that was also the grave he dug for himself."
Life tended toward self-destruction, and that tendency only grew more severe under the erosion of time. No one in the entire universe understood this better than Ancient One, who controlled the Time Stone.
If Ancient One had not loved the Earth that had raised