Chapter 40
What kind of names were those? Although he could tell whoever had named them had been aiming for something wildly domineering and cool, they were far too plain!
Si Ming's mouth twitched. He was about to explain that he had spent the past four months solidifying his foundations when Murong Qing's eyes lit up. "Junior Sister, you watch Legend of the Divine Radish Hero too? The first-generation Great Radish Hero's two signature moves really are cool, but I prefer the Super Overlord Lightning Finger and Ultimate Earth-Shattering Fist from the third series."
Zhong Lingxiu's face lit up with the excitement of someone who had found a kindred spirit. She stepped forward, grabbed Murong Qing's hands, and waved them vigorously. "I never thought I'd meet another Radish fan here! Nobody in the Mohist Knight Guard much likes the show. They say the acting is too over-the-top and the fights aren't realistic enough. They don't have a shred of imagination! I've watched every single episode, from the first series through the seventh."
Si Ming was stunned. What kind of TV show was this? The title alone reeked of the countryside, and somehow they had made seven series of it? Were all the Mohist School's disciples' tastes this strange? Was it because the character for "Mohist" contained the character for "earth" that they all loved rustic dramas?
"When it comes to acting, Legend of the Divine Radish Hero is indeed a little unsophisticated. After all, it's aimed at young people, and adults can't help approaching it with preconceived prejudices. But acting is only a superficial thing. The substance of Legend of the Divine Radish Hero lies in the spirit of heroism and righteousness it expresses. The Great Radish Hero protects his home and country, strikes down the strong to aid the weak, and never bows to evil. That's what truly deserves our admiration and emulation."
Murong Qing began discussing it with Zhong Lingxiu, her expression perfectly serious. Si Ming was flabbergasted. He had thought someone as meticulous in everything she did as Murong Qing, whose mind was more mature than that of most adults, wouldn't like such a nonsensical TV show.
Zhong Lingxiu nodded repeatedly. "Exactly! A lot of people hear Legend of the Divine Radish Hero and decide it's a childish show for kids. They're the shallowest people of all, making reckless judgments without even watching it. They're the ones who are truly childish. The Great Radish Hero's spirit is passed down from one generation to the next, never to be extinguished. There's no stronger will in the world."
"Names are just decorations. Adults wouldn't understand."
Zhong Lingxiu and Murong Qing were enjoying their conversation like old friends reunited in a foreign land. Somehow, they had tuned in to each other's wavelength, and the more they talked, the more animated they became. Si Ming was baffled. Was the Mohist School not only bad at music but also lacking in other forms of entertainment? Or was Legend of the Divine Radish Hero, a TV show with such a cringe-inducing name, actually a masterpiece?
"Martial arts can be defeated, the flesh can be destroyed, and will can be wiped out, but the Great Radish Hero's spirit is rooted deep in everyone's heart. Even if one falls, thousands upon thousands will rise!"
"A spirit of unbending integrity lies buried deep in the earth, its name concealed and known to none. When evil runs rampant across the world, the hero's will shall burst from the soil, and scarlet blood shall burn like fire!"
As Zhong Lingxiu and Murong Qing grew more excited, each shouted her favorite line from Legend of the Divine Radish Hero. For some reason, even Si Ming felt his blood begin to boil.
Just then, Zhong Lingxiu pressed her palms together, spread her arms to either side with her palms facing outward, and raised one leg in the Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg pose. Murong Qing pressed her palms together and raised them above her head, lifting her right leg and bending it outward, with her palm planted against the side of her left leg in a yoga-like pose.
The two shouted in unison, "Heaven-Piercing Breakthrough, Crimson Lotus Radish!"
His boiling blood went ice-cold. Si Ming covered his face with one hand. Striking such strange poses in public, don't you two have any sense of shame?
And that description of scarlet blood and all that must mean carrots, right? Haven't you considered how white radishes feel?
"Will you two settle down? The research lab is just ahead. Making a racket might disturb someone's experiment."
Murong Qing was a well-behaved, disciplined girl and naturally didn't want to get in anyone's way. She quickly calmed down.
Once the frenzy had passed, she recalled how she had just behaved and was immediately overcome with embarrassment. The fact that Si Ming had watched the whole thing made her wish she could find a hole in the ground and crawl into it. Her face quickly turned red.
Zhong Lingxiu, on the other hand, felt no shame at all. Instead, she looked as though she hadn't had enough. As a research assistant, though, she knew the rule against making noise in the lab, so she tried hard to suppress her excitement.
At the lab entrance, Zhong Lingxiu, now calm, suddenly remembered something and said to Murong Qing, "You're Si Ming's schoolmate, right?"
Murong Qing nodded. "We're not in the same class, but we do go to the same school. In fact, my class is right next to his."
"Then you're the same generation as Junior Brother Si Ming, so you should call me Senior Sister."
Murong Qing froze at that. Si Ming said quietly, "She's sixteen this year."
"Huh? B-but you don't really look..." Realizing that such a remark might touch a sore spot, Murong Qing's voice grew softer.
Zhong Lingxiu herself wasn't very worried. Instead, she said confidently, "I'm only sixteen. I haven't finished puberty yet, so I still have room to grow."
People who say that usually never grow any taller... Si Ming thought.
People in the Sea Continent generally didn't care much about height, however, because there was a basic body-refining technique called the Bone-Growing Art. Once mastered, it could increase a person's height by a full ten percent, and the increase was permanent, unlike the temporary Bone-Shrinking Art. That meant even someone with the crippling height of 1.6 meters had a chance to grow to 1.76 meters.
Zhong Lingxiu was currently less than 1.5 meters tall. In theory, after practicing the Bone-Growing Art, she could grow as tall as 1.65 meters, which was already enough for a girl.
Of course, because the Bone-Growing Art affected the body's hormone secretion, it was best practiced after puberty. That was why Zhong Lingxiu was still short now.
As the saying went, scarcity made things valuable. People on Earth cared a great deal about height, and for men in particular, it was a very important point in their favor. That was because height was difficult to change through acquired factors, especially after the body had stopped growing.
But the Sea Continent had the Bone-Growing Art, so anyone could easily become tall. As a result, people cared less about height, and even men took no particular delight in being tall.
Someone who was 1.7 meters tall might practice the Bone-Growing Art to reach 1.87 meters, but someone who was already 1.87 meters tall generally wouldn't practice it. After all, being too tall wasn't necessarily a good thing, and some special martial arts were actually better suited to shorter people.
Over time, heights in the Sea Continent had become concentrated within a narrow range. Men were mostly between 1.7 and 1.9 meters tall, while women were ten centimeters shorter. Very few people were excessively short.
In a sense, this place was hell for legal loli lovers.
After Zhong Lingxiu rang the doorbell, the door opened automatically. Si Ming entered the lab to find both sides of the room piled with all kinds of scientific equipment that looked impressive beyond his understanding. The furnishings also had that half-orderly, half-chaotic quality unique to scientists: everything was clearly sorted, but nothing was arranged neatly. It looked like a mess, yet there was actually a certain pattern to it.
"Who is it? You're interrupting my important viewing time."
An impatient man's voice came from the inner room, like a shut-in receiving a sudden phone call in the middle of a competitive game.
Zhong Lingxiu said, "Dr. Pang Kang, it's the new initiated disciple Senior Yan took in—the young man I mentioned before, who practices the Blazing Yang Battle Art."
A series of slap, slap, slap sounds came from the inner room as someone walked in slippers. Then a man swaggered out, wearing a white lab coat and boxer shorts, with a head of messy hair and a face covered in stubble.
"There really is a fool who practices the Blazing Yang Battle Art! Wonderful. I happen to have several research projects that need the cooperation of someone who practices it."
Si Ming looked at the base's director, whose name was hard to be sure of. His unkempt appearance, his manner of speaking without the slightest regard for social etiquette, and the strange air about him that clashed with common sense all fit the classic image of a mad scientist perfectly-except for his height.
The doctor was nearly two meters tall, making him unusually tall even in the Sea Continent, where the Bone-Growing Art helped adjust people's height. He was also rather thin, giving the visual impression of a coat hanger draped in a white lab coat.
Si Ming didn't know whether the man had been born that way or whether it was the result of practicing the Bone-Growing Art. Common sense suggested that no one would deliberately make himself this tall, but scientists clearly fell outside the realm of common sense, so it wouldn't be strange for one to do something that defied it.
The doctor glanced at his two visitors, quickly fixed his gaze on Si Ming, and tossed him a flashlight. "Send your Blazing Sun True Qi into it."
Si Ming did as told, and the flashlight lit up, casting a beam as bright as a car's high beams.
The doctor clapped excitedly and said with delight, "Wonderful! My high-efficiency solar-powered flashlight finally has a use."
Si Ming's mouth twitched slightly. "A solar-powered flashlight? You mean that bizarre invention that 'lights up when there's light and absolutely won't light up when there isn't'?"
The doctor nodded. "That's right. I used to shine another flashlight on it so it could give off light at night, but carrying two flashlights at once was far too much trouble, so it became a chicken rib."
"You're focusing on completely the wrong thing! There are other reasons it became a chicken rib! Besides, even I have no use for it. The Blazing Yang Battle Art already has moves that give off light, so why go to the extra trouble of using a flashlight?"