The Card Cultivation System
CCS-75

Huo Bing sighed in disappointment.

Xika and Heiliao instantly turned around.

It turned out that Huo Bing heard Xika's guess earlier. Xika did not know since when Huo Bing was no longer deep in thought.

Xika waited for a while, just in case Huo Bing would deny it. But the bird did nothing but sigh in disappointment.

For a while, no one spoke. Neither Xika nor Heiliao knew what to say and how in this kind of situation.

"Huh...........I can't believe the Phoenixes are traitors. So I'm the offspring of a traitor?" huo Bing asked more to herself. But the look in his eyes already had no hope of life.

In his eyes, it no longer meant that he was alive. Plus a flash of memory that suddenly appeared in his head made him feel even more unworthy of his life.

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"Sister Huo! As you planned, we managed to catch these damn snakes" a young bird told Huo Bing.

He approached Huo Bing with several other birds carrying a cage covered in cloth at their feet.

"Hmph! Why did you bring him here? Why not be killed?"

The bird laughed slightly hearing Huo Bing's question.

"Ehehe. But they all want to taste your cooking again."

Then came a disapproving statement from the other birds.

"We never said that!"

"Really! That said it was you!"

"Sstt.....do you want to eat delicious no? Quiet down!" said the young bird slowly to his friends in the back.

The young bird had quite a charming appearance to a bird. It has blue wings mixed with green. Blue at the top is more dominant than green. But the further down the more the green color almost covers the entire blue color. In addition to its attractive color, it also has a fairly dashing stature that makes it admired by many other female birds.

But Huo Bing heard it. He just smiled gruntingly.

"alright. But not here. Our hiding will be discovered."

Then Huo Bing flew into the forest interior followed by the other birds.

After being felt quite far away from their headquarters, Huo Bing stopped and ordered the others to come to a stop as well.

They landed in the middle of the forest with a fairly tall and lush tree. It is so lush that it blocks the sunlight and makes the place not much different from night.

One of the birds held up the cloth that covered the cage with its claws.

And look in that cage. Some snakes were lying there limply.

"Poisons?" huo Bing asked.

The greenish-blue bird nodded with a big smile on its face.

His name is Lan Gao. He is an expert in the use of poison. It is quite strange considering the poison most often used by snakes so that it can be considered poison is a symbol of snakes. Of course many birds do not like Lan Gao because he uses poison. He was shunned and excommunicated. He is thought to be a descendant of snakes disguised as birds.

Because of that treatment, Lan Gao stopped using the poison that was the thing he liked the most. He hoped that the other birds would be friends with him again. But they stayed away from Lan Gao. Even insulting him gets worse.

As a result, Lan Gao moved to the edge of the forest to avoid such unpleasant treatment. For several months, he lived quietly without any insults and insults from the surroundings. But its neighbors who are forest dwellers have a more cruel tongue than any other bird.

His tongue contains poison. Right, he's a snake.

A snake came to where Lan Gao lived and was about to prey on him. Lan Gao did everything possible to counterattack or at least escape, but he failed. He tried many different ways, but nothing worked.

Finally, he reused his poison which he did not want to use anymore. Lan Gao managed to kill his neighbor using the poison. But now he doesn't know what to do. He could not return to his village. They will insult him no matter what he does. But he also could not continue to live on the edge of the forest. The arrival of the snake made him realize that living on the edge of the forest is not safe.

It was there that Lan Gao first met Huo Bing.

As usual, Huo Bing was flying around, exploring while dodging his hunters. He perched on a tree branch and noticed the fight between Lan Gao and the snake. He was quite surprised to see Lan Gao had a large supply of poison and managed to use it to defeat the snake that was the symbol of poison.

Huo Bing descended to the front of Lan Gao.

"Well, did you manage to kill the snake symbol with poison? Great as well."

Huo Bing's initial arrival frightened Lan Gao. He was afraid that Huo Bing would spread that he was reusing the poison. But the words that came out of Huo Bing's mouth surprised him. It was not a gaze full of contempt or sarcasm, but pure admiration.

"What's your name?" huo Bing asked Lan Gao.

"Eh? Ah, La-Lan Gao......."

"Lan Gao yes.....Why do you live here?"

Hearing Huo Bing's question, Lan Gao lowered her head. Huo Bing did not force her to speak after seeing Lan Gao's reaction.

"Lan Gao, do you want to come with me?"

"Eh?"

Huo Bing's question was so sudden. Lan Gao heard it. Naturally, in his entire life no one ever invited him to do something together. And the unknown bird suddenly invited him to travel together of course surprised Lan Gao.

"No want to?" huo Bing asked to look at Lan Gao who was just silent.

Then he turned around and spread his wings about to leave. But Lan Gao's words held him back.

"Tu-wait! I-i want......."

Huo Bing turned around slightly, then she smiled.

"Wait for what else? Let's go!"

"Ba-good!"

Then Huo Bing flew over with Lan Gao exploring a new place. Lan Gao did not feel any regret or longing for his village.

To him, his home was with Huo Bing. The bird not only did not mock him for using poison, but instead helped him study the poison more deeply.

"E-uh? Learn more poison?"

"really. Why the hell?"

"I-it's......."

Then Lan Gao told him the reason for living in the forest and as much as possible did not want to deal with the poison anymore. But Huo Bing's answer was,

"What's? Not want? It's a shame. I also see you like him a lot, am I wrong?"

"N-no...but, using that poison......"

"That is......No need to think about what others say. You live for yourself, not for them, why think about what they say? Besides, it's something you like and you didn't commit any sins using the poison. Didn't poison ever save your life?"

".................."

Lan Gao could not answer.

So finally, under Huo Bing's encouragement, Lan Gao returned to using poison. It didn't take long for him to re-experiment using poison.

None of his other friends mocked him. They even support it. Other than Lan Gao, Huo Bing met several other birds that had a similar fate to Lan Gao. He took them with him. Their numbers grew more and more until they finally formed a group with the name Burning Ice with Huo Bing as the leader.

Actually he did not care much about making the group or the name of the group, he only brought the birds that fared the same as him or Lan Gao. Despite officially becoming the chairman of Burning Ice, Huo Bing still acted as usual.

Gu Xun's death inflicted a deep wound on his heart until he closed his heart to everyone. But when he saw another bird that had the same fate as himself - alone, ostracized, not having a group - Huo Bing felt his heart moved until he helped the birds.

He never spoke anything sentimental or told a story about himself, but the birds accepted it. For them, Huo Bing had already accepted these broken people unconditionally, of course they would also accept them unconditionally.

Huo Bing began to enjoy his time with Burning Ice. A time when he was accepted and had a family. And other birds too. They had a similar past so they had a strong sense of brotherhood that made them accept each other without the slightest look of condescension. And Huo Bing truly wished those times would last forever.

But nothing is eternal in this world, neither is happiness.

That day was precisely the ten year anniversary of Burning Ice. Burning Ice had become a group that was quite respected by various races, both Spirit Beasts and humans. Their ultimate goal is to eradicate all snakes on the land and prevent other birds from having the same fate as them.

Many birds joined, but were rejected. The main reason the group stood was not strength, but brotherly love. And no one has it of all the birds that are about to join.

Burning Ice Headquarters is located on a mountain top. It is not difficult to achieve them, of course, because they are birds.

Burning Ice had taken countless lives of snakes. Currently, Huo Bing was in a room with several other birds talking about the attack on the residence of a group of snakes.

Huo Bing sat down with the other three birds. Lan Gao is one of them. He became one of the supreme commanders after following Huo Bing for many years. Even so, the presence or absence of him in this room was not very influential. The brain was not his part, and he followed Huo Bing's orders whatever it was, even if Huo Bing asked him to die.

"Sister Huo, this attack plan is too risky. We don't know how many enemies there are and what their cultivation level is" said a bird with brown feathers mixed in white. It has the normal appearance of an ordinary eagle, only its body is larger than a normal eagle and its eyes are sharper than any eagle. His name was Bai Feng, the White Wind.

"Yes, but this is a great opportunity. We know where their nest is. The attack must be carried out immediately before they are aware. Previously we managed to beat them back before, this time we will beat them until we can not retreat again" Huo Bing said confidently.

His success so far made him confident and sure he could do anything. To him, there was nothing that could not be conquered. But his confidence makes him off guard and can not see from all sides.

"Sister Huo... I'm honestly quite hesitant about this attack........"

What spoke was a bird sitting next to Bai Feng. He was named Lei Yu, the Lightning Storm. Lei Yu had the same character as Lan Gao, excited and easily emotional. It has a body with a dominant silver feather mixed with purple. Lei Yu was quite close to Lan Gao. They have done a lot of things together. But this time, even Lei Yu rejected Huo Bing's plan.

"Hey, hey.......What are you doubting? We can definitely conquer the Crimson Flare nest. I'll go forward if you don't believe." Lan Gao said confidently. He believed in whatever Huo Bing did and he was ready to follow all his orders even if it sounded unreasonable.

Finally, after a long debate, the attack was carried out. Lan Gao had wanted to lead the attack, but Bai Feng volunteered because he felt a bad feeling. Lei Yu also went with Bai Feng just in case. The attack will be carried out with two hundred members.

Huo Bing would remain at their headquarters. But he saw doubt on Bai Feng and Lei Yu's faces. After that Lan Gao encouraged him to take part in the attack to dispel the doubts on the faces of his two friends.

"So, just go. The problem here, leave it to me." he said confidently.

And finally Huo Bing and the other two supreme commanders went to attack. And their base is guarded only by one supreme commander.

Huo Bing remembered once the confident smile on Lan Gao's face back then. But who would have thought, that it was the last time he saw Lan Gao's smile?

The raid headed by Huo Bing and the other two supreme commanders was a success. There was a bit of resistance, but they managed to subdue it easily.

Then they returned to their headquarters.

But they didn't find their headquarters. All they found was the destroyed land with various traces of battle here and there. There are some bird bodies there.

Bai Feng approached one of them who was still breathing. Bai Feng approached and examined him.

"Hehehe."

"Lan Gao?! What the hell's going on? Where are our other members?"

"We're framed. Crimson Flares had a far greater number of members and were stronger than them. The previous attack was just a charade. They purposely gave in to lure us."

"What's? So this is all Crimson Flare?"

Lan Gao turned his head to Huo Bing.

"Sister Huo. I can't guard the base."

Huo Bing approached with a sad face. He said nothing, but tears streaming down his face.

"Don't cry, Huo. It doesn't suit you. By the way, I've never heard a single story about you. Can you tell me?"

"............. Nothing to tell."

Lan Gao fell silent then spoke again.

"Sister Huo, do you know? Meeting you in the woods at that time was the best thing that ever happened in my life. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't brought me with you back then. You have given me a new life, Brother Huo.

Those moments with you and Burning Ice are things I am very grateful for. I don't mind dying with them. After all, you're the one who gave me life. I'm ready to give it back."

Huo Bing was speechless with tears continuously dripping down.

Then Lan Gao said his final sentence,

"Even if my body is burned and my soul freezes, I will be faithful to death!"

After saying the Burning Ice slogan, Lan Gao closed his eyes for good.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

Huo Bing shouted very loudly in front of Lan Gao's now lifeless body.

His death was mourned by two hundred members and the highest commander left. Then Huo Bing and the other members buried the bodies.

Huo Bing wiped his tears then faced the remaining two hundred members.

"Prepare yourself. We're leaving in ten minutes."

"What?"

"We will avenge our brother. Don't let their deaths go to waste."

"WHAT?! YOU'RE ASKING US TO GO RAID THEIR HEADQUARTERS? YOU DIDN'T HEAR THEY HAD SUPERIOR NUMBERS AND STRENGTH? YOU'VE ALREADY MADE MORE THAN HALF THE MEMBERS DEAD. ARE YOU GONNA MAKE US ALL DIE?" shouted Lei Yu emotion.

Bai Feng said nothing.

Huo Bing was also just speechless hearing Lei Yu's words.

"IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU AND YOUR STUPID PLAN! IF ONLY WE DIDN'T"

"Lei Yu, stop." said Bai Feng flicking Lei Yu. He and several other birds held Lei Yu who seemed to be about to attack Huo Bing.

Huo Bing herself simply lowered her head in silence.

Then he plucked ten feathers from his right wing and ten more from his left wing. He put the burning, frozen feathers in front of him.

Huo Bing bent both of his wings before all the remaining members. Then he lowered his head.

Anger disappeared on Lei Yu's face after seeing what Huo Bing had done. Removing feathers from the wings itself is a form of highest honor for birds. Lei Yu did not expect Huo Bing to do that.

After which Huo Bing spread his wings, then flapped his wings. He left Burning Ice, his family who had accompanied him for ten years. He no longer deserves to be there. He no longer had the face to meet the members of Burning Ice.

The wound, which had almost healed, was now back open. In fact, the wound was getting worse.

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Is correct. He had made his members die because of his stupid plan. Its members died at the hands of the Crimson Flare, a group made up of a wide variety of snakes. And his ancestors teamed up with snakes that had wiped out more than half of the Burning Ice members.

He has no right to live in this world.

He wants to end his life.

Huo Bing's body lit up entirely. A powerful aura gushed out from him. He was about to blow himself up.