47 - Dungeon Growth Log

### Chapter 47 When Xia Ge hurried over, she didn't have high expectations. Her original plan was to get there, quickly seize a furnace, refine her elixirs, and straightforwardly prove her qualifications as an inner sect disciple. The rest of the formalities could be dealt with slowly. However, as she approached the venue's entrance and heard her name, Xia Ge was both shocked and caught off guard. The speed of her Phantom Trace technique was so fast that she couldn't brake in time at the door, causing her to burst into the scene like a black ball streaking through the air—a rather awkward entrance. Executing a perfect 360-degree flip in mid-air, she landed gracefully. Xia Ge vaguely felt that the wound on her abdomen had torn to a new height. ... Truly, it didn’t hurt at all. Nonetheless, the awkwardness and the tearing could be dealt with later. At least she had made it in time. Glancing at the red-and-white-robed girl seated on the stage, and Ye Ze eyeing her from the side, Xia Ge couldn’t help but smile brightly. —Retirement insurance on the horizon! So happy! "Dan Peak's 556th outer sect disciple, Xia Wuyin, pays respect to the senior sister!" The girl on the stage had a cold expression, her porcelain-like face devoid of emotion. Her voice was equally cool and detached. "Find your position and get ready." "Yes!" Straightening her back, Xia Ge quickly spotted furnace number 124. It seemed that Senior Sister had signed her up… For the first time, she felt the bliss of having a powerful backer and connections. Walking over, Xia Ge felt as if she were dragging a sack of broken bones, her body numb and clumsy, with the wound faintly throbbing. In such a terrible state, she found herself beside the furnace, vaguely aware of someone watching her. She turned slightly and saw the ragged-clothed boy next to her. The boy, with a red headband and black, unwavering eyes, stared straight ahead without acknowledging her, his pupils barely visible. His rigid demeanor emanated an unmistakable "keep away" vibe. To his right was Xia Ge's position. It wasn't he who was staring at her, but the girl on his left. This girl kept staring as if something were on Xia Ge’s face. Feeling the girl was strangely familiar, Xia Ge couldn’t recall where they had met. The girl unabashedly continued to gaze at her, unfazed by Xia Ge's notice, and looked at her with a justified air. Xia Ge retracted her gaze expressionlessly. {Little Dummy.} System: “Hmm?” Xia Ge, deeply: {Am I now exuding that legendary sickly beauty? The kind that's especially attractive?} System: “...” If the System had hands, it would have slapped Xia Ge’s big face to make her realize the truth. Finally, the girl watching her spoke up. “…Hey, you.” She hesitated a bit, shouting from a distance, “…Aren’t you Xia Ge?” Xia Ge spun around, staring: “!!!?” Who the hell are you?! You even know her real name?! Human or ghost?! The girl called Mao Qing looked at her, lips pressed together slightly, “I remember you. So your name is Xia Wuyin now.” Seeing Xia Ge’s expression like she’d seen a ghost, Mao Qing felt affronted, stomping her foot in frustration, “You don’t remember me!? I’m Chang Lu…” Xia Ge was horrified: “What the hell, you’re Chang Lu?! Those elixirs have gender-changing effects?!” Unbelievable! Mao Qing turned red with anger, “I’m not Chang Lu!! I’m Mao Qing! I…” Seeing Xia Ge’s bewilderment, Mao Qing took a deep breath, “I’m… Anyway, whether you remember or not, thank you for what you did back then!” She twisted the hem of her clothes, looking uncomfortable. Relating to Chang Lu, Xia Ge stared at her for a while before realizing who she was, “Oh… it’s you.” Stuck in the middle, Huo Bai emotionlessly pulled materials from his sleeve and placed them on the table. For a moment, he seemed to take out the wrong material, glanced at it, and quickly put it back. Xia Ge happened to catch a glimpse. Meanwhile, Mao Qing, pressing her lips together, said, “Are you also competing? Senior Sister seems to care a lot about you. You’re so outstanding, why are you still competing?” Xia Ge, regaining her composure: {What did she say?} System, coldly: “Host, she’s complimenting you on being outstanding.” Xia Ge feigned weakness: {Say it again? What's going on, Little Dummy? Is your voice transmission system broken or am I too bloodless to hear clearly?} System: {Host, she said you are outstanding.} Xia Ge: {Huh? What's that? Say the first and last two words again? Oh dear, Little Dummy, do you need an upgrade? Can’t hear a thing.} System: “Host is trash. Did you hear that clearly this time?” Xia Ge coughed, feigning nonchalance, “Ah, yes, I am indeed very outstanding, but even the most gifted need a stage—” Lowering her voice, looking reflective, she added, “Indeed, truly excellent people need a stage, not connections.” System: “…” Bullshit! Without your connections signing you up, where the hell would you have a stage?! Some genius. All just blowing hot air. Mao Qing, pressing her lips again, “But no matter how excellent you are, I’m determined to be the champion!” Xia Ge chuckled, “What a coincidence, my goal is also the first place—so we’re rivals now. Good luck, Miss Mao.” Huo Bai murmured, “…” “Get your materials ready! The competition is about to begin!” The inner sect disciple on the stage announced sternly and clearly, snapping Xia Ge back to focus. She slowly took out the materials given by Senior Sister from her Flowing Silver Ring. There was a small table in front of each furnace, equipped with a scale and other auxiliary alchemy tools. Carefully, she placed the materials on the scale to check them meticulously. Initially, everything was fine, but midway through, she suddenly felt dizzy, her fingers trembling, causing the scale to tilt and skew the numbers. Shaking her head, Xia Ge set the materials down, propping herself up by the table, closing her eyes to let the dizziness pass. Mao Qing couldn't help but peek at Xia Ge, thinking about how this life-saving benefactor was also a rival. She noticed Xia Ge clutching the table, eyes closed, her face pale. No… her face had never looked good from the start. At first, Mao Qing thought Xia Ge naturally had a pale face, but now, with the cold sweat on her forehead, something was clearly wrong. Remembering the medical expenses Xia Ge covered and Chang Lu’s previous kneeling incident at Dan Peak, Mao Qing’s concern overcame her competitive spirit, “Hey, are you okay?” After a moment, Xia Ge opened her eyes, feeling relatively better but still facing Mao Qing’s question. Xia Ge: “Don’t distract me. Just now, I was actually feeling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.” System: “…” Huo Bai, stuck in the middle: “…” Mao Qing, feeling like she just fed her concern to a mangy dog, replied with a flat “Oh”, turned back to her materials, grinding her teeth. She didn’t know why she was angry, but she was definitely pissed. Refining a fasting pill and feeling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth? Are you planning to refine a heavenly-grade fasting pill? Impossible! Xia Ge wasn’t, of course, sensing spiritual energy. But she was indeed feeling the dizziness caused by excessive blood loss. Struggling through the measuring of all the materials, she felt like she was seeing double. Intense movement, the wound tearing—though she couldn’t feel pain, her body was showing signs of blood loss dizziness. While she made it to the competition, the situation was still… very dire. “Ah… Little Dummy, do I have any points left?” System: “None. The ten points from refining the elixirs were spent on the potential gun.” Xia Ge felt groggy, “That was a good thing… if only I could use it on myself again…” System: “Get a grip. The potential gun can’t be used frequently. Overusing it strains the body unimaginably. It was fine during the three-day peak state from the scarlet fasting pills, but using it now is a death wish.” Death? Zhao Si? Xia Ge naturally replied, “Ah, Zhao Si? Nicholas Zhao Si? My real name is Lei Feng…” System: “…” A moment later, Xia Ge realized what she had said, “Ah… My name is Xia Wuyin.” System: “You should quit the competition or delay it. Your current state is too… dangerous.” Xia Ge felt a pang of warmth, “Little Dummy, are you worried about me?” System decided to be honest, “I’m just worried you’ll slip up and blow up the furnace, causing collateral damage.” Xia Ge decided to feed her touched feelings to the dumb-looking, husky-like black wolfdog back at the village. “Heh, an exceptional genius won’t blow up the furnace.” Shaking her head, she looked up at the sky for a while, pondering. Finally, unable to contain herself, she looked at the person beside her. “…Hey.” She called out, “What’s your name?” Huo Bai, inexplicably called out, glanced at her, his fists slightly tightened beneath his sleeves, face expressionless, “Huo Bai.” “It’s just an illusion… But why do you seem familiar?” Xia Ge muttered to herself, “I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere.” System: “Host, that pick-up line was outdated by eight hundred years. Aren’t you embarrassed?” Xia Ge: “Little Dummy, that’s where you’re wrong. This era’s technological development is a few thousand years behind mine, so what was considered outdated by eight hundred years in my time is actually a few millennia ahead here.” System: “…” So you're openly hitting on him?! …Even if the System didn’t fully believe it, for the sake of humanitarian spirit and self-justification, a little explanation wouldn’t hurt. {No… I genuinely feel like he's familiar.} Xia Ge silently explained in her heart. Huo Bai looked at her, “You must be mistaken. I am a newly recruited disciple from an outside village, not an outer sect disciple. This is my first time here.” Xia Ge scratched her head and laughed, “No worries, no worries, I often mix people up… I mean, could you lend me one of the candies in your sleeve? No, borrow one—I’ll pay you back.” Mao Qing: “…” System: “…” Damn, how did you know he had candy!? Huo Bai’s face instantly turned red, “I don’t have any!” Xia Ge looked solemn, “Yes, you do. I saw it when you were taking out your materials. It’s from Jinjiang Confectionery down the mountain! Mint flavor!” System: “…” #### Author's Note: Hmm… introducing two important supporting characters. Regarding the plethora of comments mentioning excessive padding, awkwardness, and Xia Ge messing up at crucial moments… _( :3」∠)_ I'm a bit at a loss… But I’ll try to be mindful of these elements going forward. It's my first time attempting a light-hearted, satirical plot, and sometimes I might not nail it (sigh). I'll try to be more attentive as the story progresses. To those eager for upcoming plot developments: I'm still laying the groundwork and building the foundation (sigh). I’ll try to balance the emotional and satirical parts better (scratches head). Though aside from correcting typos, I won't rewrite previous chapters. I realized that the segment in my stockpile box actually addressed part of the bugs from the last chapter (melancholy). Furthermore, yesterday JJ removed part of my author's note; some of the nutrient solution acknowledgments have been moved to the last chapter. Love you all =3= ### Throwers of Thunderbolts and Landmines Time List: - 随随 threw a landmine at 2018-06-11 09:15:56 - 涼起 threw a landmine at 2018-06-12 00:23:37 - 旭楓 threw a landmine at 2018-06-12 00:35:47 - 四十八年老飞机 threw a landmine at 2018-06-12 08:33:02 - 柴归 threw a landmine at 2018-06-12 10:34:26 - 过了忘了 threw a landmine at 2018-06-12 13:40:53 - 阮墨 threw a landmine at 2018-06-12 15:20:30 - 不雪仁 threw a landmine at 2018-06-12 16:28:11 - 13235031977 threw a hand grenade at 2018-06-12 18:17:29 - l泗x汐y threw a landmine at 2018-06-12 21:39:03 - 戈喆 threw a landmine at 2018-06-12 22:20:47 - 三更有梦书当枕 threw a landmine at 2018-06-12 23:17:49 Thanks, everyone, for your landmines and hand grenades. Love you all! ### Nutrient Solutions List: - Reader “嘚嘚” poured in Nutrient Solution +1 at 2018-06-12 22:38:56 - Reader “” poured in Nutrient Solution +5 at 2018-06-12 22:00:48 - Reader “沙滩里的橘子” poured in Nutrient Solution +3 at 2018-06-12 21:00:18 - Reader “星际” poured in Nutrient Solution +1 at 2018-06-12 20:17:50 - Reader “舍得” poured in Nutrient Solution +10 at 2018-06-12 18:00:15 - Reader “:p” poured in Nutrient Solution +60 at 2018-06-12 11:40:28 - Reader “sheepdeer” poured in Nutrient Solution +10 at 2018-06-12 11:28:34 - Reader “雪二纶” poured in Nutrient Solution +1 at 2018-06-12 11:22:21 - Reader “” poured in Nutrient Solution +1 at 2018-06-12 09:35:26 - Reader “十八世子” poured in Nutrient Solution +5 at 2018-06-12 08:29:02 - Reader “西行寺幽幽子” poured in Nutrient Solution +10 at 2018-06-12 06:45:52 - Reader “英国短毛” poured in Nutrient Solution +20 at 2018-06-12 02:30:33 - Reader “一只花栗鼠” poured in Nutrient Solution +20 at 2018-06-12 01:09:07 - Reader “芥末豆” poured in Nutrient Solution +1 at 2018-06-12 00:22:04 Thank you all for the Nutrient Solutions, love you!