The Ugly Little Snake: My Dragon Son | Chapter 71 | Secrets of the Visions Tower | Novela.app

Chapter 71 - Secrets of the Visions Tower Life as a dark-skinned prince passed in a blur of courtly intrigue and administrative duties. Before he knew it, two months had slipped through his fingers. One morning, while presiding over a stack of state affairs, a sudden thought struck Leng Jing: the mystery of the Visions Tower remained unsolved. Since the Great Snow Valley fell within the sovereign territory of the Snow Dragon Kingdom, there had to be some record of the tower within the imperial archives. Driven by this realization, Leng Jing decided to personally investigate the royal library. The journey from his private chambers to the library was not a peaceful one. Within that short distance, no fewer than ten waves of assassins lay in wait, desperate to eliminate the Fourth Prince, who was currently the most favored candidate for the throne. Naturally, these attempts ended in ignominious failure. It was whispered throughout the palace that the Fourth Prince’s spiritual power was second only to the Dragon Emperor himself. Despite the assassins’ relentless waves, they were invariably sent spiraling into the sky by the prince’s signature Dragon Qi Thunderstorm, scattered like autumn leaves in a gale. However, the Fourteenth Prince was no fool. He knew that crude assassinations were merely smoke and mirrors—a distraction to keep Leng Jing on edge. His true objective was far more insidious: he sought to unearth Leng Jing’s weaknesses, to gather enough evidence to humiliate him before their father and cast him into an abyss from which he could never return. After two months of meticulous spying, the Fourteenth Prince had compiled a substantial dossier of "crimes" against Leng Jing: 1. Leng Jing was a "defective hybrid dragon," born with incomplete horns—a mark of shame for the proud Dragon Clan. This had been reported by a spy planted in the imperial hot springs. 2. Leng Jing showed no interest in women but kept a male "pet" from the Snake Clan by his side, suggesting he harbored a "cut-sleeve" passion. 3. His origins were murky; his very identity as a prince might be a fabrication. 4. He had allegedly bewitched the Dragon Emperor’s most beloved consort, engaging in scandalous adultery. 5. He had openly expressed a desire to usurp the throne. 6. He was secretly forming a faction within the court to undermine the Emperor’s authority. The list went on, totaling over a hundred grievances. Just as Leng Jing entered the library, the Fourteenth Prince, backed by a coalition of ministers, presented this formal indictment to the Dragon Emperor. To the prince's horror, the Dragon Emperor merely glanced at the scroll before tossing it aside with a cold sneer. "Just a few days ago, the Fourth Prince mentioned to me that a tall tree attracts the wind, and that many in the court harbor resentment toward him. I did not expect the first shot to be fired by you, his own brother. If a kinsman can plot such a scheme, what hope is there for the rest of the court?" The Emperor’s displeasure was palpable. Cold sweat drenched the Fourteenth Prince’s brow. He realized then that Leng Jing was far more cunning than he had imagined—the Fourth Prince had already poisoned the Emperor’s ear against any future accusations. Gnashing his teeth, the Fourteenth Prince retreated to brew even darker schemes. *** Meanwhile, Leng Jing had immersed himself in the vast sea of knowledge within the Royal Library. The archives contained every imperial record since the kingdom’s founding, a staggering collection of scrolls and codices. He delved into the stacks at dawn and remained there until the dead of night. As midnight approached, a torrential rain began to lash against the stone walls. Leng Qingqing and the White Marten arrived, carrying baskets of snacks to sustain him, and joined in the search. As the hours ticked by, the marten and the white snake grew drowsy, their heads nodding as they succumbed to sleep. Only Leng Jing remained vigilant, the rhythmic rustle of turning pages the only sound in the silent hall. He had reached the records from five thousand years ago. A particular volume of ancient history caught his eye. It claimed that the ancestors of the Snow Dragon Kingdom originated from the Kingdom of Lu. The revelation hit him like a physical blow. Five thousand years ago, the very kingdom where Leng Jing had once served as a prince—the Kingdom of Lu—was the cradle of the current Snow Dragon civilization. It was as if a broken narrative had suddenly been mended. The scrolls detailed how, after Leng Jing’s party left Lu, the White Dragon Prince and the Queen did not end up together. Their duties and circumstances forced them apart, resulting in a tragic end to their romance. Instead, the Prince married a maiden of the Snow Dragon Clan, fathering the first generation of Snow Dragon Emperors. The records further explained that three thousand years ago, humanity began to advance at a terrifying pace. Foreseeing a cataclysmic end for mortals who overreached, the divine clans chose to withdraw into hiding, upsetting the balance of the Three Realms. For a brief period, humans enjoyed a hollow prosperity, priding themselves on "technological" skills they deemed equal to the gods. Eventually, this hubris led to self-destruction as they turned their god-like weapons upon one another. The survivors sought to correct the warped timeline, slowly returning to the peaceful ways of antiquity. However, one faction of the human elite had escaped the Great Destruction a millennium ago. They fled to the edge of the divine realm—the borders of the Snow Dragon Kingdom—and built a secluded, utopian society. This was the city within the Great Snow Valley, a place that preserved the aesthetics and technology of the old world. The Snow Dragon Clan had watched this relic of the past in silence for a thousand years, neither side interfering with the other. Intrigued, Leng Jing paused to snack on a few fried fish before returning to the books. The storm outside intensified, the roar of the rain drowning out all other noise. Water began to seep under the doors, pooling around the outermost shelves. Leng Jing glanced toward the window; such a deluge was unheard of in a land of perpetual snow. He turned his attention to the final set of volumes—the *Secret History of the Founding*. These books were thick with dust, untouched for centuries. The very last volume was different from the rest; it was bound in abyssal black leather, devoid of any title or inscription. It radiated an ominous aura. Opening the first page, he found "Secret Memoirs of the Founding." It detailed the private lives of the ancestors, revealing that the "Snow Dragon maiden" the White Dragon Prince had married was actually a man of unique constitution. The first Emperor was born of this union, and the Prince had reportedly taken his own life the day after the birth. The second section, "Secrets of the Heavens," recorded the chaos of the Rift and the madness of the gods, explicitly noting that the Dragon God Leng Jing had quelled the disaster. The third section, "Secrets of the Dragon God," attempted to trace Leng Jing’s origins, but ended abruptly with the phrase: *The Dragon God Leng Jing is an ancient sealed deity.* His true beginning remained a mystery. Leng Jing read on until he reached the 178th entry: "Secrets of the Visions." His heart skipped a beat. He flipped the page, expecting text, but found only a blurred image of a human face. The ink seemed splashed haphazardly across the parchment, yet from a distance, it formed the unmistakable likeness of a youth with his eyes closed, as if in a deep, eternal sleep. "What is this?" Leng Jing whispered. He looked toward his sleeping companions, debating whether to wake them. "That... is the face of Qing Yue," a voice murmured beside his ear. Leng Jing nearly fell from his chair. He hadn't sensed anyone approaching. A stranger stood beside him, appearing as suddenly as a ghost. "Who are you?" Leng Jing asked, his face paling. The man wore a wide-brimmed hat and a dark cloak drenched by the rain. He sat opposite Leng Jing and removed his hat, revealing a face of such transcendent beauty that it bordered on the terrifying. It was a face that belonged in a dream, or perhaps a nightmare. "I am Han Yu," the man said with a faint, melancholic smile. "You brought the storm," Leng Jing stated. "Indeed. Wherever there is water, my abilities can be exerted to their fullest. Within the Visions, I am currently ranked at Level 88," the man said with a touch of pride. He leaned back, crossing his legs. "This is our second meeting. Do you remember the vegetable garden?" "You gave me those hints? You were the one helping from the shadows! What is your goal?" Leng Jing demanded, slamming his hand on the table. Han Yu’s long lashes fluttered. "I am a fugitive. I am running from the Visions Tower." "What exactly is the Visions Tower?" Han Yu’s dark eyes grew deep, like an endless night. "The origin of the Visions begins with the person in that book. That youth is named Qing Yue..." He began to recount a tale of a distant era when humanity ruled the world through "science." Han Yu had been an ordinary teenager in a city that housed the "Visions General Hospital." One day, he accidentally wandered onto the restricted fifth floor, where he met Qing Yue—a legless youth in a wheelchair who begged for help. Han Yu had tried to rescue him, but both were captured by a secret organization. Qing Yue was their most dangerous "experiment," and Han Yu was deemed "infected." They were taken to the Visions Building, a 99-story tower where every floor was a training ground of hellish proportions. To survive was to ascend; the higher the floor, the more inhuman the survivors became. "We were trained to become 'supermen,' or perhaps monsters," Han Yu said, gesturing to his own ethereal form. "Many of us tried to escape. This black book was written by one of my comrades who hid here in the Snow Dragon Kingdom. I am the only one left." "And Qing Yue? Is he at the top?" "Yes. He is the core of the Visions. His power is to perceive and distort all things. To the world, he is 'nothingness,' yet he continues to feed humans into that tower to create his army of 'transcendents.' Even the gods are beneath his notice." "Then why find me?" Han Yu pointed to the book. "The author, Ming Ran, could perceive the past. He noted that your record is unique. You encountered a similar chaos in the heavens—the 'Qu Yue' disaster. The names, the powers... they are too similar. More importantly, Qing Yue’s power cannot detect this book, nor can it seem to find you. You possess a field that ignores the influence of Chaos." Han Yu leaned forward, his eyes gleaming. "If I stay with you, I can hide from the Visions. They even blamed me for the two trainees you killed because they literally cannot 'see' you. You are my perfect shield." "You want to live with us? Impossible," Leng Jing countered. "You’ll only bring trouble." "Leng Jing," Han Yu’s voice turned cold, "you are merely a dragon spirit equivalent to Level 70. Do not be arrogant. With a single drop of water, I could turn everyone in this room into dust." And so, the Leng family trio was forced to accept a new, unwanted member—Han Yu, the Level 88 fugitive from a forgotten age. ***