The Forgotten Pulse of the Bond - Chapter 48: Beneath the Hollow Flame

“21 days. 7 hundred million won. 29 strangers. One unforgettable man.” Yoon Ji-won never planned to become a substitute driver. He never planned to be locked inside a building for 21 days with 29 dangerously attractive men. And he definitely didn’t plan to have his world turned upside down by a smooth-talking younger guy who won’t leave him alone. After a mysterious interview, Ji-won is thrown into a secretive, high-stakes project with an offer too tempting to refuse. The rules? Obey. Stay. Survive. But when he meets “Number Three,” everything starts to unravel. Cold stares. Lingering touches. A spark that turns into a fire he can't put out. Is it destiny? Or just another trap? For readers who crave intense power dynamics, isolated tension, and twisted attraction wrapped in a sleek, modern BL thriller.

Ash Flameheart, a young boy who aspired to be a Greatest Beastmaster Of All Time, was on the verge of death. Betrayed by the Hero’s party, they left him to die in the hands of the Demon King’s army.As his llife gently ebb away after he muttered his last word to the world.“Ahh, I wish I could fly, free as a bird, soaring through the skies and beyond.”After his untimely demise, his soul transmigrated into another world. The Immortal Beast Realm!An eternity later, Ash opened his eyes and found himself encased in a dark space.Beep![Beast Master System has been installed into a new host][Calibrating the Host…][Name: Ash Flameheart][Species: Heavenly Phoenix][Growth Stage: Hatchling Phoenix][Cultivation Arts: Heavenly Beast Taming Art | Feather Swords Gather Array (Not Not Yet Learned) | Eternal Blood Flames(Not Yet Learned) | Ten Thousands Faces Mantra(Not Yet Learned)]Survival of the fittest!Tame or be tamed. Kill or be Killed!

This world is sick, and it must be cured with swords and forged with iron and fire.To slay tyranny, to cut down the unrighteous. To overturn heaven and earth, to mold the human world.All shall begin with the sword in hand.======When the Innate Wisdom Bearer An Jing received aid from the ancient Sword Spirit, allowing him to traverse various realms, he knew that his future would inevitably lead him down a path full of hardships and difficulties, hard to be understood by others, yet capable of changing this wretched world.And on this path, he would also crush many deserving scum underfoot.“Heh heh, the Myriad Tribes of this world shall greet the birth of this epoch-making giant like me with fervent wishes. World, I'm coming to save you!”Noble Officials/Demon Sect/Heavenly Demon: “Alas, is reconciliation possible?”Elements: Chaotic times of Martial Arts, cyber cultivation, gates between two worlds

In this world, orphans or just anyone without any hope for this world can apply to become a “walking target”. Their sole purpose is to be a practicing dummy for the students of the sect who train to become “Demon Hunters”. These students need “walking targets” to test their training on living, walking beings of flesh and blood.
In exchange, they will be provided with food & shelter.
Their existence value is lower than a slave, but if they manage to survive a few years they can receive a life long pension.

Xiao Han is such a “walking target”. One time he witnessed a powerful Demon Hunter disposing a demon. When the demon died, a fragment of the demon that managed to escape entered Xiao Han’s heart. No one saw that, and even Xiao Han himself only felt some discomfort for an instant.

But that thing in his heart soon gave Xiao Han visions, and the first one is of a cultivation method which allows Xiao Han to absorb damage to enhance his body. A perfect cultivation method for a “walking target”.

- Description from Novelupdates