Chapter 2: Cultivation Index Zero!

  （0002）

  In addition to excitement, new recruits discussed the situation of practitioners in twos and threes.

  Cultivators are the most powerful beings in human existence. They are humanity's last guardian deities. The classification of their ranks is primarily based on standards of power and speed. As long as one's power or speed reaches a certain fixed value, their rank will be upgraded. This basis for ranking also applies to other starry sky creatures.

  Generally, cultivators are directly represented by their level. For example, a first-level cultivator, a tenth-level cultivator, a twentieth-level cultivator, and so on. Each level of cultivator has different standards. As long as they meet the standard, they can advance to the next level.

  As for other creatures in the starry sky, if they are space demons, they are directly referred to as first-level demons, tenth-level demons, twentieth-level demons and so on. It seems that the Toad Spider Monster is a fifth-level demon. Their combat power is roughly equivalent to that of a fifth-level cultivator.

  If it's not a demon beast, but another high-intelligence creature, the title is different. The usual title is added after their name with their level. For example, Level 1 Samoan, Level 10 Sakuto person, Level 20 Dekazoku person, etc. Some of their attributes are also roughly equivalent to those of cultivators of the same level.

  In fact, at the very beginning, cultivators and other creatures did not have a strict hierarchical distinction. It wasn't until after the thirteenth Starry Sky War that humans gradually classified cultivators into levels, while also classifying other starry sky creatures based on their abilities.

  The purpose of grading is to form a clearer power system, making it easier to make policy decisions and facilitate the transmission of intelligence. Otherwise, when a large group of Decepticon mechs launch an attack, subordinates cannot accurately describe them, and superiors cannot grasp their strength. If even intelligence cannot be clearly transmitted, how can we react?

  After classification, it's much simpler and clearer. Subordinates only need to report the enemy's level and quantity, and superiors can react quickly based on this. Whether to dispatch unmanned aerial vehicles, mechs, or directly deploy cultivators to deal with Decca mechanical humans, there are clear procedures. As long as you follow the procedure, you won't make mistakes.

  As most of the cultivators in the human world serve in the military, their ranks are often tied to their military ranks. As a result, their ranks are often replaced with military ranks. The Starlight Federation Army, which Xia Xingxiao belongs to, has a total of six levels and twenty-three grades, corresponding to first-level to twenty-third level cultivators. Just mentioning the military rank can determine the cultivator's rank.

  To be specific, the lowest first-level cultivator has a military rank of private in the army. The second-level cultivator has a military rank of third-class soldier. The 22nd level cultivator has a military rank of marshal. The 23rd level cultivator has a military rank of grand marshal.

  It is said that the cultivator's level does not stop at the 20th and 3rd levels. Above the 20th and 3rd levels, there are even higher levels. It's just that ordinary people don't care about it anymore. It's too far away.

  The entry standard for a first-class cultivator is to have an explosive force of 200 kilograms or a speed of 20 meters per second. Obviously, it's not difficult to reach this standard. Most people can basically achieve it after practicing hard for a period of time.

  The standard for a second-level cultivator is to have explosive power of 500 kilograms or speed of 50 meters per second. This is quite difficult and requires some time and talent to achieve.

  The standard for a third-level cultivator is to have explosive power of 1,000 kilograms or speed of 100 meters per second. Obviously, this standard is still quite high. For ordinary people, it would take several years of hard work and cultivation to reach this level.

  The further back it goes, the higher the standard, and the more time it takes.

  For example, Zhang Feng, who just made a move, has cultivated for at least thirty years or more.

  According to the correspondence regulations between cultivator levels and military ranks, to be awarded the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, one must reach the standard of a 13th-level cultivator. This standard, to be precise, is either an explosive power of 2,000 tons or a speed exceeding 200 kilometers per second.

  Zhang Feng's cultivation was mainly based on strength, so his explosive power had long exceeded 2,000 tons. Clearly, this was a terrifying value.

  The body of the giant spider, even if it's stronger than a human, can't withstand such a heavy blow. A full 2,000 tons of force, enough to send them flying directly.

  Moreover, the curved moon knife used by Zhang Feng was a special product of the Federal Army, with doubled killing power. With one slash, the toad monsters were naturally killed and injured in large numbers, and they fled in disarray.

  As for Yu Zhilai, she is a non-combat military personnel and not a cultivator, so the rules of cultivators do not apply to her. The rank and badge she wears are also different. In the Federal Army, cultivators and non-combat military personnel belong to two separate systems. They complement each other in terms of power and responsibility, while also checking and balancing each other to maintain stability within the army.

  I think many new recruits are secretly admiring him at this moment. I wonder if I can become a master like Captain Zhang Feng? If so, then this life is not lived in vain.

  Xia Xingxiao was the only one who didn't feel anything.

  He was extremely resistant to the army, thinking of an effective way to leave the army without causing serious consequences. The magical knife of Major Zhang Feng left only a faint impression in his mind and soon forgot about it.

  ……

  About two hours later, the Zorvath spaceship began to slow down and slowly entered the Mnelo military base. The new recruits had arrived at their destination.

  Mian Luo Military Base is one of the key strongholds defending Bai Yue Xing. It was established on a satellite that orbits in tandem with Bai Yue Xing, named "Ai Ye", also known as Ai Ye Satellite. The Federal Army has stationed a large battalion here, consisting of over 5,000 federal soldiers, mostly cultivators, led by a major general named Chen Duo Hai.

  On the other side of Aye Wei, there was also a mechanized cavalry squadron stationed, with about fifty mechs. However, the mech troops did not belong to the jurisdiction of the Mian Luo military base and had another command system. They would only cooperate with the cultivators in battle when necessary. Generally speaking, outside of joint exercises, the two sides did not have much contact.

  In a sense, practitioners and mechs, drones, space battleships and other troops are mutually restrictive. The federal army is composed of several mutually cooperative but also mutually restrictive troops. No type of troop has the opportunity to dominate alone.

  On the Zhuo Ka spaceship, Xia Xingxiao carefully read through the data related to Ailuowei. Ailuowei was named for its shape resembling a leaf of wormwood. Its volume is roughly similar to that of the Moon, but its mass and gravity far surpass those of the Moon. In fact, its mass is roughly similar to that of Earth. The surface gravity is about five times that of Earth.

  Due to the excessive surface gravity of Aylee Ved, ordinary people generally find it difficult to survive. The Mino military base is equipped with a gravitational balancing device, which allows for the free existence of civilian personnel like Yu Zilei. Otherwise, they would have been crushed by the five-fold gravity long ago.

  As for the cultivators, they were originally tempered through arduous cultivation and resistance to various abnormal environments. Therefore, five times gravity was their first test. As long as they left the Miao Luo military base and went to other places in A Ye Wei, they had to face this test.

  Xia Xingxiao and the other new recruits got off the Zhuo Ka spaceship and were immediately sent to eat, take a bath, change clothes, and arrange their dormitories. Information about them had naturally been transmitted to the base early on, and the base had also prepared everything in advance, so everything was just right.

  After completing all relevant enlistment procedures, they lined up and entered the test building for new recruit qualification tests.

  The test building is actually underground, the stairs extend downward, all the way down to hundreds of meters below ground. Other buildings are also like this. This is also a characteristic of the Mian Luo military base. Inside the military base, all the buildings are hidden deep underground. The purpose of such design is naturally to prevent external intense attacks. Therefore, from the surface, the Mian Luo military base has nothing but an airport and several electromagnetic gun emplacements.

  The so-called new recruit aptitude test is actually a test to see if you have the innate talent for martial arts. If you do, what level will you reach and what achievements can you make in the future. The content of the aptitude test includes many aspects such as soul strength, bone density, meridian openness, etc. Some special martial arts also require testing various components of blood.

  In the vast starry sky, the level of human technological development is actually inferior to that of alien civilizations. Humans who set out from Earth have not yet broken out of the Milky Way galaxy after expanding for several epochs and are still turning around inside the Milky Way galaxy. However, other alien civilizations have already arrived in the Milky Way from other galaxies. The gap in technology between them can be imagined.

  In today's starry sky world, the technological development of non-human high-intelligence life is almost surpassing that of humans by a whole level. For example, the Dejia Empire, which has the most advanced technology, has researched mechanical humans to the point of perfection. The mechanical warriors of the Dejia Empire are the strongest fighting individuals in the starry sky world, and humans can't even compare to them.

  If it were simply a matter of warships, fighter jets and mechs clashing, humanity would have almost no hope of victory. In every Star War, humanity's warships, fighter jets and mechs have been almost completely suppressed in terms of combat effectiveness. In the era of giant cannons and battleships, human armies have almost never defeated alien civilizations.

  Fortunately, humanity still has its last trump card: cultivators.

  In fact, if there were no cultivators, humans might have been wiped out many times already.

  To become a cultivator and protect the safety of humanity is the dream of countless passionate young people. Unfortunately, Xia Xingxiao's heart doesn't think that way. Because his mind isn't on the military at all. Everything that happens here seems to have nothing to do with him.

  When others were tested, Xia Xing didn't pay attention at all, feeling like a wooden person. When it was his turn to take the test, he sat down on the chair mechanically, motionless, no matter how his brain struggled.

  The world of Starry Sky, all martial arts are transmitted directly into the brain through information. The instrument responsible for this is commonly known as a Light Brain. All Light Brains have strict control programs and can only be activated in specific areas. This is done to prevent martial arts information from leaking into civilian society and being learned by people with ulterior motives.

  Of course, these are official statements. In fact, in many remote or dark corners, there are always people secretly selling chips related to various martial arts. If ordinary people get these chips, they can also practice them secretly.

  The chip is actually a kind of light brain. Its function is equivalent to the U disk in ancient Earth times. It's just that the information recorded on the chip is much less than that of the light brain. Generally, a chip only records one skill.

  A warm yellow-green light slowly descended, enveloping Xia Xingxiao's entire body. In an instant, Xia Xingxiao felt that his whole body, every meridian, every cell, every pore, and every drop of blood seemed to be exposed in front of the light. Even his thoughts seemed to be about to be scrutinized by the light.

  Of course, this is just an illusion. Even if the starry sky world has been prosperous for several epochs, there is still no thorough understanding of the human brain, a complex organ. As for human thoughts, it is definitely impossible to spy on them. The secrets of the human brain are forever a mystery.

  In fact, the starry sky of various countries also has similar bans, prohibiting all acts of prying into others' thoughts. Otherwise, they will be subject to double punishment in terms of morality and law. After all, thoughts can be said to be the last privacy of human beings, and no one wants this last privacy to be exposed.

  The light brain calculates different cultivation indices based on different test items. The normal natural person's cultivation index should be one point. After that, every additional point, the cultivator's cultivation speed will basically double. Adding two points, the cultivation speed is four times faster. However, it is not easy to obtain a cultivation index of more than one point.

  This time, more than 550 new recruits have been tested, and Xia Xingxiao is the last one. In the previous test, only three people had a cultivation index of over 3 points, and there were only two people. One was called Song Haicheng, and the other was Ye Sifu. Those who reached a cultivation index of 2 points were less than twenty people. The rest were all at the entry level with a score of 1 point.

  Xia Xingxiao estimated that he was just a ordinary person. He didn't want to stand out too much. His goal was to leave the army, and if he stood out too much, this goal would not be achievable. Therefore, during the test, he was completely relaxed and not nervous at all. In his opinion, this qualification test should end quickly. The previous people were all finished very quickly.

  But something abnormal happened.

  A yellow-green light flickered repeatedly on Xiaoxiao's body, never giving out a cultivation index. The numbers displayed by the Light Brain changed constantly, from one to nine, in a jumbled mess. Occasionally, the screen would go completely blank, only to display another string of garbled code afterwards.

  If the light brain were human, its reaction could be understood as being indecisive and unsure of how many points to give Xia Xingxiao. In a more serious scenario, it could also be interpreted that the internal testing program of the light brain was disrupted by some kind of strong external interference, causing it to fall into a state of disorder and unable to operate normally.

  "What's going on? Old Gao, Old Gao! Come and take a look quickly! Your machine seems to have a problem!" Yu Zile exclaimed, being the first to notice something was amiss.

  At that time, she happened to be standing opposite the light brain, responsible for recording each person's cultivation index, and just discovered the abnormality of the light brain. In fact, all test data are networked, and she can view them at any time. She was just used to writing personally.

  While waiting for the technician, Yu Zile walked to the side of Guangnao and carefully checked each test program of Guangnao, but found nothing abnormal. Then she looked at Xia Xinxiao again, and still didn't find anything abnormal. However, from the chaotic numbers displayed on the screen, Guangnao indeed had an exception. The test program of Guangnao was completely disordered.

  If the guess is correct, the light brain should be its own program that has been severely interfered with and cannot run normally. But how can there be something in the test building that strongly interferes with the light brain?

  Xia Xingxiao's appearance looked as if he had fallen asleep. During the test, his connection with the outside world was temporarily interrupted. Therefore, he didn't know anything about what was happening in the outside world. Time, for him, also seemed to have stopped temporarily.

  Soon, the relevant technicians arrived. They checked the test program and did not find any problems. They also checked around the test building and did not find any sources of interference. They then shut down the light brain, restarted it, and re-conducted the test.

  However, strangely, Xia Xingxiao's cultivation index was still fluctuating. Sometimes it was the lowest score of zero, sometimes it was the highest score of nine, sometimes it was a blank space, or some program codes that even technicians couldn't understand. After tossing for half an hour, Guang Brain still didn't give out a stable data.

  "Reporting to Commander... Testing Optic Nerve..."

  This strange situation, at the Muye military base, was also a first. Relevant reports quickly arrived at Base Commander Chen Duo Hai's place. He immediately opened up a holographic image and conducted a thorough study of Xia Xing Xiao.

  He believed that the test of the light brain was no problem, and the problem must be with this new soldier called Xia Xingxiao. The question now is, what's wrong with this new soldier? A deeper question is, what kind of abnormality can't be detected by the light brain?

  The new recruits on the scene also slowly discovered that something was wrong. They looked at each other in dismay, whispering to each other in hushed tones. Was this Xiaoxiao a monster in disguise? Was he a bioengineered human or some kind of cyborg?

  In the Starry Sky world, Bio-people and Merged people are natural enemies of human beings. The Stellaluna Federation has a clear law that for bio-people and merged people, they must be dealt with seriously. If Xia Xing Xiao is not a natural person, what awaits him will definitely be the result of being arrested and exiled immediately.

  Yu Zile obviously had such concerns. She had already called the base's military police to be on high alert around them. Once it was proven that Xia Xingxiao was a bio-person or a synthetic person, he would be ruthlessly exiled into outer space, left to fend for himself.

  However, subsequent data showed that Xia Xingxiao's body did not retain any biochemical agents, nor was there any detection of the blood components of a demon beast. Therefore, it can be concluded that he is not a biochemical person or a synthetic person, but 100% a natural person.

  The two tests that led to the serious anomaly in the data were the soul perception degree and the expansion coefficient of the meridians. These two items are the most important qualifications for cultivators. The data showed that the results of these two tests were all question marks.

  Soul perception, looking mysterious, can be understood in a popular way as wit, talent, and innate ability. For the knowledge transmitted by the light brain, how much can be received, how much can be understood, and how much can be digested are all related to this soul perception.

  If the soul's perceptivity is too low, it cannot fully accept, understand or absorb the knowledge transmitted by the light brain, and various errors will occur in the cultivation process, resulting in a significant discount on the cultivation effect.

  In addition, the degree of soul perception is also related to the space of the sea of recognition. The information contained in the light brain is too much, and after being transmitted to the human brain, it needs to be stored in a place called the sea of recognition for digestion and absorption.

  The size of the knowledge ocean is related to how much knowledge can be stored. The larger the knowledge ocean, the more knowledge that can be stored, and naturally, the more martial skills that can be cultivated. The more martial skills that are cultivated, the deeper the understanding of martial arts will be, which is beneficial for enhancing combat effectiveness.

  The expansion coefficient of the meridian, however, is related to the specific speed of cultivation. The operation of internal energy requires the meridian as a conduit. Absorbing the primordial energy of heaven and earth also requires the meridian. Deploying various martial skills and releasing powerful energy instantly also require the meridian. It can be said that the meridian is the basic channel for cultivators to communicate with the energy between heaven and earth.

  The more the meridians expand, the smoother they are, and the better the cultivation effect will be. When displaying martial arts skills, the power will also be greater. On the contrary, if the meridians are blocked and scarce, the cultivation effect will naturally be dismal.

  In the tests of these two items, the answers given by Guang Brain are all question marks. Obviously, Guang Brain is unable to judge the scores of these two projects. Since even the most important two indicator items cannot be tested, the final cultivation index naturally cannot be formed.

  Chen Duo Hai asked through the communicator: "Dr. Gao, what's going on? There has never been a case like this before! Do you have any good suggestions?"

  Dr. Guo, the operator of the Light Brain, was unable to provide a convincing answer to this question. He and his team could only repeatedly restart the Light Brain, convinced that its detection program was not wrong. Yu Zile, on the other hand, had the constables repeatedly check the perimeter of the testing building, ensuring there were no sources of interference nearby.

  Xia Xingxiao, our protagonist, was being used as a test subject, and had been enveloped in a yellow-green light all along. Fortunately, his connection to the outside world had been temporarily severed. As a result, he had no idea what was happening outside.

  After the most tossing, Guang Brain finally gave out a stable number.

  0！

  A big zero stopped moving.

  Dr. Gao and others, you look at me, I look at you, all of us are speechless.

  After tossing around for half a day, it turned out that this guy's cultivation index was actually zero? No wonder the light brain was so entangled and refused to give a stable number. To be honest, such a number is indeed too weird. It must be known that since the establishment of the Mian Luo military base, no one has ever had a cultivation index of zero! The worst also have a little bit!

  This summer Xiaoxiao also set a certain record for the base.

  Unexpectedly, this time recruiting new soldiers, the Mandalay military base actually recruited such a freak.

  If other military bases knew about this, I wonder what kind of sighs they would let out. The luck of the Melo military base over the years has been pretty bad. Apart from being frequently attacked by space monsters, even space bandits have come to join in on the fun. Occasionally, you can still feel the presence of the Capricornians and Samoans lurking in the shadows. The Melo military base is truly a never-ending source of news!

  "Ah? Zero ah!"

  "His cultivation index is actually zero?"

  "What? Zero? Isn't this the legendary super trash?"

  Looking at the last digit given by Guang Brain, the new recruits couldn't help but whisper to each other.

  This summer, Star Xiao is too ridiculous, actually managed to get a zero out! It's simply unthinkable! You'd better at least get a one. What does zero mean? Zero represents waste! A complete waste that can't even cultivate!

  Facing such a bizarre result, Yu Zile was also speechless. This Xia Xingxiao was someone she had forcibly brought from home. Now it seems that she would have to kick him out again. A cultivation index of zero meant there was no prospect for improvement; what use could he be in the military? The Federal Army wasn't a place to raise useless people. If only she had known earlier, she wouldn't have brought him here.

  "Huh? Zero? Haha, this is great!" Xia Xingxiao himself was quite optimistic about it.

  Because, according to the relevant regulations, new recruits with a cultivation index of zero are not necessary to continue staying. The other new recruits were right, the federal army does not need waste. This means that his wish is about to come true. He will soon leave the army and return home to continue living a life of luxury, beautiful women and fine wine.

  Xia Xingxiao suddenly saw Yu Zile standing not far away, and immediately revealed a lewd smile without any disguise. His eyes were directly fixed on her chest, as if they had already penetrated through her military uniform and were admiring her twin peaks.

  This woman worked hard to drag herself out of the house, only to find that her martial arts training index was zero. I wonder what she would feel? If I had known earlier, I would have let myself off easily. Look, isn't this a waste of effort?

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