The Empyreal Gem Master - Chapter 197 A Heavy Heart! I

“Was trying to forget my past and live a peaceful life… a mistake?”His twentieth birthday was supposed to be a celebration, not his final moments—bleeding out on a bed, betrayed, and left to die.'Taking the life of a ‘good’ person makes you a murderer, but taking the life of a ‘bad’ one makes you a savior… Why?'As death embraced him, he whispered his final words—“The world’s kindness, right till the end..”…Only to wake up in an unfamiliar body.“Wait… I’m Noir Ravenlock?”A doomed heir, born to rule the world yet bound to a fate engraved with blood.In a world where morality shapes strength, survival demands more than just power—it demands understanding.And Noir, a man or perhaps a demon who once saw the world through twisted eyes, may just see something no one else can.

She is a daughter of a marquis. People only know her as the timid and cowardly young maiden, unaware that her other identity is the imperial capital’s famous, who awes the world, “slender gentleman“ is her.

She was promised a marriage 10 years ago and painstakingly waited 4 years for her groom. The morning her supposed partner returned to imperial court, he’s holding another woman.

In a single evening, from primary spouse she was demoted to secondary spouse.

For love, she supports and assists him. Together they share trials and tribulations, flying side by side. Who would expect all he did was for another woman?

He was born in the top chain of power, yet he grew up inside the darkness, enduring among conspiracies. Maturing from a weak youngster to a war-god.

For the woman he has once loved, he met her on the battlefield [1]. Every move fierce. He helplessly watched her ripping apart her sleeve, falling into bottomless cliff with a smile….he was hurt to the core. After this imperial ancestral temple and jiang hu, sky and sea, are we never to meet?

Coming out of prince’s manor, visiting vast sea, walking on the grassland and dealing with maritime power struggle.

The world is in chaos, love came in troubled times. Palace. Jiang Hu. Power. Mutiny. Naval battle. Four years of silent endurance. She, commanding thousands of pirates, returned, swirling the imperial court and jiang hu.

Only, you have once said you have been waiting for a person — a person who you admire, who you adore, a woman who could stand side by side with you.

Now, have you regretted?

- Description from Novelupdates

Lu Qingyan was once the perfect daughter—an obedient, soft-spoken high school girl known for her academic excellence and fragile health. But the one person she loved the most was her older brother—hentle, dazzling, and far too burdened for his age, he was her everything.. No one noticed his silent suffering… until it was too late. The day he took his own life, she shattered.Months later, while saving a child from an oncoming car, Lu Qingyan dies and awakens inside a familiar story: the school novel “A Thorn in the Crown”, one she read during her lowest days.But she’s no longer just a reader.She’s now Lu Qingyan, the infamous younger sister of Lu Mingxuan—the novel’s violent and cold-hearted villain feared across campus. A notorious delinquent, and ironically, the sworn enemy of her favorite character: Wang Jingyuan, the story’s tragic antagonist turned misunderstood villain.In the novel, Lu Qingyan is little more than cannon fodder—a delusional girl who idolizes her brother, gets caught in the crossfire between Lu Mingxuan and Wang Jingyuan, and ends up being dead.Determined to change the plot, she initially plans to curry favor with Wang Jingyuan—to save him from his doomed fate.But everything shifts the moment she lays eyes on Lu Mingxuan.He has her brother’s face.The same weary eyes.The same lonely back.The same silent cry for help no one else hears.And in that moment, Lu Qingyan’s plan shatters.This isn’t just a story anymore.So Lu Qingyan vowed to protect him this time, even if it means dragging her brother out of gang fights, squaring off against entitled rich kids, or defying the other villain himself—Wang Jingyuan, the school’s cold and brilliant golden boy... and Lu Mingxuan's sworn rival.In the original novel, Wang Jingyuan was one of the big villains—the cunning and miserable friend of the male lead. Now, he’s front and center... and watching her a little too closely....Lu Mingxuan always disliked his bootlicking sister, but one day he discovered that she had stopped following him around.Later, he unexpectedly found his sworn enemy, Wang Jingyuan, trapping his sister against the wall and between his arms. With an ambiguous and languid expression, he coaxed in a soft tone, “Just give up on that useless brother of yours. What Lu Mingxuan can give you, I can too.”Lu Qingyan: ???Wang Jingyuan, you dog!!That’s my sister!! Stop daydreaming!!

He was about to join the beta test on the newest VR games, Second World.

But an anomaly threw him into a world with familiar rules, a rule he usually only experienced in a game.

Now he must use his past gaming experience in this new world.

It was no longer a game, it was survival! A strive to reach the highest level possible.

Equipped with dual-class of melee and magic user, John was set on the path to become the strongest character in this brave new world.