Qi Technique

The endless ringing of insects made its way into a simple room. Apart from a few potted plants, a bed and tidy worktable there were no personal items to distinguish the owner.

Michael laid on his bed quietly, vacantly staring at a plain looking pendant that was attached to an old necklace around his neck. Apart from clearly being old, he couldn't find anything special about it.

"Family heirloom huh? This thing looks useless" he mused.

Quickly losing interest, he pulled out an old and rough looking book from beneath his pillow, on the cover were the words "Qi Technique" roughly etched without much care.

["These two items were left by our Ancestor and has been passed on in our family for generations" His father said with a serious face. A trace of pride could be seen behind his thick and stern eyebrows.

"This booklet contains a Qi technique which allows you to train to become an immortal"]

The words of his father from earlier tonight rang in his head as he inspected the book.

"Immortal…"

Michael stared intently at the messy words on the book cover.

"What a crappy name. Qi Technique doesn't sound all that powerful. Why couldn't it have been Carp becoming a dragon technique, or even something like Defying the Heavens Technique…" he complained bitterly, clearly, he didn't have much expectation after seeing these two items.

A long while passed by before he decided to open the first page.

<Qi is the energy of the world; it is everywhere and in everything.

Those who harness it will prosper; they who deny it, shall wither.

For whom does this world belong to if one does not seize it?

Embrace the Qi; seize the world>

Domineering words unlike on the cover of the book were written with impeccable penmanship. Michael felt chills as he consumed these words, for the first time in his life he felt a tinge of excitement and expectation.

The words seemed to pull at him, from places unknown. Unconsciously he turned to the next page and was met with a diagram of the human body in the lotus position with a map of the meridians. These meridians were without labels, the only thing that was labelled was the Dantian which was spherical in shape and sitting just above the naval.

On the outside of the body were blue lines which entered through the body and flowed through a series of meridians before reaching the demarcated Dantian.

"That must be the Qi mentioned on the first page. So, I just need to breathe it in?" he muttered to himself

Michael crossed his legs and imitated the pose on the diagram before closing his eyes and steadying his breath. Cold air made its way through his nostrils filled his lungs before being exhaled through his mouth. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours as he sat there in silence merely breathing.

All sounds of insects were drowned out as time passed. Gradually Michael was able to feel something brushing against his skin, at first it seemed like it was a light breeze that tickles the hair on your arms. However, after some time the pores on his skin began to absorb this "breeze".

"This is it!" Michael exclaimed in elation.

The Qi that was slowly being absorbed by his pores was flowing throughout his meridians without a predetermined route, seemingly exploring their new environment. As Michael continued to meditate and absorb Qi its density started to increase, putting pressure on his weak meridians.

"Arghhh" he groaned and gritted his teeth as this new pain enveloped his body.

The Meridians were throbbing and expanding after trying to accommodate the Qi that was absorbed.

"Not good!" It was finally time for Michael to panic as he noticed his precarious situation. He was so immersed in the feeling of new sensation that he had bitten off more than he could chew. His thoughts whirring, he tried to remember the route that the diagram had shown. First, he needed to try and control this dense Qi that was congregating in his meridians.

Sounds of grinding teeth could be heard as Michael attempted to gain control of this errand Qi. After what felt like an eternity, he managed to will the Qi toward his right arm by contracting his muscles and meridians.

"Through the palm, to the elbow, shoulder, heart then navel…" He repeated through gritted teeth. Before long the dense Qi was ushered through the meridians in these channels and made its way to the navel where it was met with resistance. The Qi which was hurtling toward the naval was repelled back the other way toward the heart.

"What!!!" Michael was shocked and almost jumped in fright. He quickly made the decision to send it back toward his wrist to complete a full cycle and avoid the Qi redispersing and losing control. As it made its way back to his wrist, the throbbing meridians were beginning to show signs of tearing. They expanded and brought waves of pain while carrying the burden of the dense Qi. Once they made it back to the wrist, he willed the Qi back along the original path denoted in the Qi Technique book. As the Qi made its second cycle toward the elbow it increased in speed dramatically, causing his meridians to audibly tear and barely hang on by a thread. Like a meteor, the Qi hurtled through the elbow, shoulder, heart and then to the meridian channel leading to the Dantian.

"Go you bastard!!" gritting his teeth viciously, Michael focused all his being into directing the Qi toward his Dantian in one final attempt to breakthrough. Failing here would cause the Qi to further wreak havoc within his body.

BANG!

A deafening noise was heard within Michaels body as the dense Qi hurled itself at the barrier. With a crack the Dantian was breached and like water, the Qi began to fill up the container.

"Cough cough" a mouthful of black blood made its way out of Michael's mouth and onto his shirt. A putrid stench wafted up from his clothes which were now covered in a black sticky substance in addition to the black blood. The Qi had cleansed his body of some dirt and impurities of the mortal world.

"I… I did it" weary and relieved, Michael could clearly see his Dantian which was now housing the Qi which he absorbed earlier. Surprisingly he could now investigate his body through his mind's eye. After checking on his Dantian he begrudgingly looked at his meridians and cringed as he saw the damage.

Overcome by exhaustion, Michael's eyes rolled back, and he passed out on his bed.