Predicament

Several days passed, yet I was still at a loss. Sitting cross-legged in the quiet room, I stared at the Great Thunder Heavenly Dragon Dou Skill scroll. No matter how I examined it, the more I looked, the more profound and obscure it seemed, impossible to understand.

I irritably set the scroll aside, took a deep breath, and slowly formed a strange hand seal before my chest. I muttered, "This should be right."

Using a Dou Skill required not only forming the hand seals, but also coordinating the circulation of Dou Qi within one's body. Only by synchronizing the inside and outside as one could one draw upon the surrounding energy of heaven and earth and successfully unleash a Dou Skill.

Following the scroll's instructions, I circulated the Lightning Attribute Dou Qi within my body through the complex meridians along a particular route. My ten fingers cautiously shifted through the hand seals, forming them exactly as depicted on the scroll.

At once, the energy of heaven and earth gathered around me. Faint purple lightning emerged before me, and within the blur, a Thunder Dragon could be seen. Since I had not used my full strength, it was only as thick as a chopstick.

"Hmm?!"

Suddenly, the flickering lightning dimmed, then violently exploded, leaving me in a sorry state. Fortunately, I had not unleashed the Dou Skill with full force. Otherwise, I would already have suffered backlash and been seriously injured.

My face darkened. "What's going on? It failed again!"

I had carefully read, studied, pondered, and comprehended this Dou Skill for days. I had tried it three times in total, but each time, let alone reaching the final step, it would suddenly fail during the early stages and explode outright.

With a press of my hand, I suppressed the chaotic