Cultivating in Honkai!

That day…

Cocolia watched as everything she built crumbled down. The Kaslana girl she let go a year ago turned out to be the one who will cause it all. Not a hint of honkai energy was used. Her Titans all fell at the same time. Even her partner who proposed the X-10 Project fell.

Everything that could go wrong went wrong.

Cocolia stared at the ground. She was sent into this interrogation room from the moment she was captured in Siberia. She waited for someone to come in. Not a hint of her former demeanor could be seen.

Click.

The door opened. It revealed an unfamiliar brown-haired man. He wore a pair of glasses and held a black cane. No one else came in after him.

He placed the cane against the table and sat down.

A guess appeared in Cocolia's mind.

'Is he…'

"...Sovereign?"

"Yes. Pardon me for the late introduction. I am Welt Yang, Anti-Entropy's Sovereign."

"..."

Numerous thoughts came to her mind.

One thing was certain:

She was outplayed.

"We will be holding you responsible for thirty major charges, of which the Project X-10 being the highest charge." He paused before adding, "This has been discussed during an emergency meeting. You will be charged with a hundred years of imprisonment."

"Huh. Why phrase it at that? Why not lifetime?"

"You will come to understand."

Welt Yang did not elaborate further.

"You also attempted to clone the First Herrscher, Welt Joyce. Were you supported by that android?"

"That's right."

She frankly admitted it.

"The X-10 Project is also a result of our collaboration. Given the chance, it will allow us to cure honkai corruption."

Cocolia's intention was revealed.

"That man… he possesses resources beyond Anti-Entropy's. The biological science reports I received showed the possibility of it succeeding."

"A possibility. You cannot deny the other possibility of putting your own children in danger. If there is someone who should carry the burden of honkai… it would be us adults."

Welt Yang calmly pointed out the flaws in her words. To that, Cocolia shook her head.

"You know the truth, Sovereign. Words alone do not suffice in a world like ours. Sometimes… taking risks is necessary."

He did not reply. Instead, he handed her out a brown envelope.

Intrigued, Cocolia opened and read its contents. She was doubtful at first, but as time passed on, she was shocked.

"It is a top-secret project we conducted a year ago. The discovery of a new substance, dubbed as spiritual qi, enhances the body's function to repair itself."

It was the most important project the three of them undertook. Welt Yang's physical body was able to fully recover by reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm. The recovery effect brought by spiritual qi is enough to overwhelm the honkai energy's destructiveness.

It showed spiritual qi's capability to heal honkai-related diseases—honkai corruption.

Unfortunately, they lacked enough materials. Welt Yang used himself as a blood factory to sustain this study. It was fortunate Kiana managed to give them the small number of spiritual plants left by Shi Tian.

Overall, it took an entire year to create sufficient results.

Showing this to Cocolia is a way of placating her. It is essentially a "way out". This finding persuades her to stop pulling off crazy things. As for its implementation, Einstein's findings over the "Honkai Proportionality Law" forced them to halt it temporarily.

"Four one hundred milliliters of dosage, taken once every three months. Moderate cases of honkai corruption will be gone after that. Severe cases will take more. Lighter cases will take less."

"..."

Cocolia did not speak. She found everything to be incredible. Too much she found it extremely doubtful.

'Honkai… It's time I step up.'

Welt Yang was caught in contemplation. Cocolia's case is a wake-up call.

Humanity has been fighting the honkai for hundreds of years. It is inevitable for some to resort to extreme methods. Otto Apocalypse is a prime example of it.

His long absence caused Anti-Entropy to be like this—scattered sand. The Executors possessed most of the powers. It resulted in the radical and conservative split. That was how messy it is.

Prior to Welt Yang's recovery, they could not even do anything to these Executors' private experiments. Raiding Cocolia's turf without a high-end power like Kiana or Welt Yang is doomed for failure.

It was precisely due to this that Welt Yang decided to step back up. Punishing Cocolia and showing their capabilities is the prelude of it all.

Today is the day their Sovereign comes back.

"You will be open to visits at any time. I believe… your children would like to see you."

"..."

Four days later, Cocolia received her first visit.

"Cocolia Matushka."

"...Bronya."

Anti-Entropy has their own correctional facilities. It is used in dealing with officers turned criminals. It is a prison solely used for Anti-Entropy's internal affairs.

The two are separated by a glass wall. Bronya's short stature is noticeable.

"Have you been treated well?"

Her concern awakened Cocolia's inner conflict.

"Don't concern yourself about it. I am doing well." She then shifted the topic, "How is the orphanage?"

"Da. Sin took charge of your affairs. Seele is helping her coordinate with the people sent by the Sovereign."

Bronya began talking about the changes during the five days she was gone. It took a long while.

Just then, Cocolia heard a voice in her mind.

"I can help Cocolia Matushka to break out."

That voice belonged to Bronya's.

Cocolia was visibly surprised by it. She vaguely knew about her 'secret' training sessions with Seele. She did not pay much attention to it. They did not secretly dabble with honkai energy. That was her bottom line.

Little did she know, it was actually the spiritual qi introduced by Welt Yang.

Without a proper detection device or a cultivator in charge, nobody will notice its existence.

She shook her head.

"Perhaps… I am wrong. Children who did wrong…"

"...needs a punishment."

Bronya finished her sentence. It was this strict persona that disciplined the dozens of children inside the orphanage. Cocolia is known for it.

"Take care of them on my behalf, Bronya."

"Da. The Bronya understands."

*****

The final sweep over the Earth's surface by the Herrscher of the End destroyed all traces of the Previous Era.

However, there are contingencies who survived. By utilizing the influence of the Sea of Quanta, some structures resisted the final sweep and survived up to this day.

Deep beneath a room filled with all sorts of equipment, two people are represented. One of them was the masked man, Gray Serpent. The other one is a gray-haired woman. Her black cloak concealed her body.

"A reconnaissance mission?"

"You are allowed to bring the Divine Key. Avoid direct contact."

"...Understood."

Their meeting was short and brief. The woman, codenamed Raven, left.

One of the screens inside the room lit up. It revealed a beautiful woman. Her eyes held a distinct glint that supported her arrogance. It is another one of World Serpent's Cadre, codenamed Jackal.

"I hate to ask… but what was it?"

Seeing Gray Serpent being unresponsive, her tone became harder.

"The samples you sent. Where did it come from?"

"Have you studied it?"

"...This is something that person would find great interest in." She shrugged her shoulders. "It is a brand new element invisible to our eyes. I cannot discern its nature, but the changes it produces shows its prowess."

He nodded with her assessment. Gray Serpent's experience with Kiana Kaslana made him feel more about that invisible power.

"It is Anti-Entropy's work."

"Huh. So much for Schicksal being ahead of them. Tell me, they don't know about this, no?"

"They don't."

"Really."

After showing disappointment, Jackal went straight to the business.

"What are you planning to do?"

"The Sire ordered an investigation. We will dig it out."