The Second Background Editing!

Rumble...

The enormous waterfall looked like a celestial river pouring down from the nine heavens, its roar deafening.

Seeing such a sight for the first time, Zhuge Qing could not help crying out in wonder, her eyes fixed on the spectacle.

"Little Juzi, please step back a little..."

Mu Lingfeng smiled, then stepped forward to a rock before them.

The rock had stood there for many years, every groove across its surface steeped in the passage of time.

Mu Lingfeng pressed his palm against its surface.

Rumble...

The next instant, something unbelievable happened—the waterfall plunging straight down actually split in two.

As though another world lay hidden behind the waterfall, a concealed blue flagstone path appeared before everyone.

Even Ning Que was struck speechless by the magnificent sight.

"Little Juzi, please."

Mu Lingfeng smiled.

Led by Mu Lingfeng, the large contingent slowly filed inside.

It reminded Ning Que of a tale from his previous life—the monkey in Journey to the West leaping through a waterfall and discovering the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit beyond it.

The scene before him was every bit its equal.

"How did you do that?"

Ning Que could not help asking Mu Lingfeng.

Mu Lingfeng smiled. "That goes back to the generation of Juzi Ning, your father. They invented the Mechanism Art."

"The Mechanism Art?"

"Exactly. Little Juzi, please take a look."

Mu Lingfeng led Ning Que behind one side of the waterfall, where he discovered a stone formation that forcibly split the entire waterfall in two.

Once everyone had entered, Mu Lingfeng deactivated the stone formation.

The stone formation changed shape again, and the two halves of the waterfall slowly closed together.

"Badass!"

Ning Que could not help exclaiming.

Mu Lingfeng, Luo Qingwan, and the others looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"Nothing... I was complimenting you..."

He had been so astonished that a phrase from his previous life had slipped out.

As they continued farther inside, the Water-Moon Grotto-Heaven gradually revealed itself.

Terraces, pavilions, and towers had been built facing the waterfall.

This was a central stronghold set deep within a valley, surrounded by sheer cliffs.

Water was the primary element here, powering everything.

Eventually, they slowly entered a stone cavern.

Though it was a cavern, the interior was exceptionally spacious. Stone soldiers clad in black armor stood on either side, wielding enormous axes and exuding imposing might.

They gave off a chilling aura, an incomparable air of slaughter radiating from within.

Ning Que did not know whether he was imagining it, but he kept feeling that the stone soldiers on either side were real.

They had merely fallen into slumber...

Farther inside, a throne likewise fashioned from stone stood out.

"This was Juzi Ning's seat—your father's..."

Mu Lingfeng spoke beside him, overcome with emotion.

Mu Lingfeng escorted him this far and stopped, his meaning clear: he wanted Ning Que to sit down.

"Can I sit here?"

Ning Que asked instinctively.

Although the background of this simulation made him the orphaned son of Flowing Sand's Juzi, he still felt a little hesitant about taking his old father's seat.

"Please sit. This seat has been reserved for you."

Mu Lingfeng spoke with a candid gaze. "To tell you the truth, we've been searching for you all these years, hoping you could inherit Juzi Ning's mantle and put an end to this state of dragons without a head."

"The strength and strategic ability you've displayed have far exceeded our expectations!"

Hearing this, Ning Que understood.

You can sit, but you have to fulfill your responsibilities and lead all of Flowing Sand to glory.

That's a lot of pressure...

Nevertheless, Ning Que sat down.

With the system at his disposal, he feared nothing!

"We pay our respects to the Juzi!"

The instant Ning Que sat down, Mu Lingfeng dropped to his knees and shouted.

"We pay our respects to the Juzi!"

Luo Qingwan, Yin Jiuyou, and the others also knelt.

The vast assembly, nearly ten thousand strong, knelt in unison, their imposing presence surging as their thunderous voices reverberated throughout the cavern.

The echoes lingered for a long time.

Zhuge Qing, who had only just joined, glanced around. Seeing everyone kneeling, she hurriedly followed suit.

Ning Que had not expected such a grand display of respect and quickly asked them to rise.

Mu Lingfeng's expression grew solemn. "Next, Little Juzi, please come with me!"

Ning Que followed him through a series of secret chambers until they reached the innermost room.

Inside stood a stone statue and a memorial altar.

"This is Juzi Ning, your father..."

After kneeling in homage before the statue, Mu Lingfeng rose and spoke to Ning Que.

Ning Que said nothing, merely gazing at the statue in silence.

Mu Lingfeng left.

In his view, father and son must have had much to say upon meeting.

Yet Ning Que felt no such thing.

To him, the entirety of Flowing Sand was merely a background.

And a temporary background at that.

When the next simulation came, an even stronger background would surely appear!

"Ding..."

As Ning Que gazed at the stone statue of Ning Yuanzhou before him, a system panel appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Ning Que]

[Background Editing: Son of the former Juzi of Gathering and Scattering Quicksand (current progress: 12%)]

[Current karma points: 6,280.]

[Acquired techniques: Back-Penetrating Fist (proficiency: 80%), Demon-Subduing Saber Technique (proficiency: 80%).]

"..."

Looking at the system panel, Ning Que froze for a moment.

The great battle in Qingzhou City had increased his karma points enormously!

Likewise, bolstered by thirty years of internal energy, his Demon-Subduing Saber Technique and Back-Penetrating Fist...

Had both risen to eighty percent proficiency.

He recalled the mysterious expert of unknown origins he had encountered during the battle in Qingzhou City.

That encounter had triggered the background for his second simulation, filling Ning Que with curiosity.

Just what kind of background could the second simulation produce?

Triggering the conditions for a new background could increase the probability of obtaining it in the second simulation.

Soon, Ning Que closed his eyes and began his second Background Editing.

Lines of text appeared before Ning Que's eyes.

[Ding! Second Background Editing commencing...]

[You are a personal disciple of the Fallen Star Pavilion. After committing an offense, you were punished with ten years of wandering beyond the mountain. Those ten years have now passed. Seeing that you still have not returned, the Fallen Star Pavilion dispatched disciples to search for you. While passing through the Great Li Dynasty, they discovered traces of you...]

Huh?

Reading those lines, Ning Que froze.

The Fallen Star Pavilion?

Could it be some cultivation force under a dynasty?

Cultivators did exist in this world.

However, most concealed themselves amid the bustling world, rarely emerging into public view.

Cultivation sects and dynasties also had agreements: sect cultivators were never to interfere in a dynasty's internal affairs.

Of course, some sects with deep foundations could even make dynasties dependent on them!

I wonder what rank of sect the Fallen Star Pavilion is?

With that curiosity in mind, Ning Que quietly awaited the arrival of the force behind his second background.

Just as he was about to leave, he instinctively looked toward the stone statue of his father, Ning Yuanzhou.

There was a conspicuous indentation in the statue.

He stopped again and instinctively pressed it.

With a click, a small compartment actually appeared in the statue's head.

Inside lay a secret letter...