Serenity Impulse Breathing

Amanda Waller sat in her office as she fiddled with a small object in her hand, squeezing it and rolling it on the table. She watched a TV screen intently, focused as one could see a young boy sitting with his legs crossed and both his arms in a sling. She said nothing as she carried on staring as if she was waiting for something.

After a few seconds, the silence was broken as someone knocked on her door. Swinging around in her chair, she authorised the person to enter. A familiar scientist walked into the room holding a tablet with his usual constipated-like face.

"Director Waller, I'm back with the medical results of Killer Croc, aka, Waylon Jones." He stated as Waller turned in her seat to look at him, signalling him to speak.

"Well, to put it simply, I'd say the reptile is lucky to be alive. As fascinating as it may seem, Waylon's organs were somehow ruptured, leading to organ failure and internal bleeding, just to name a few injuries. With all this being said, I think it's safe to say Killer Croc won't be out on any missions for the time being." He explained, handing the tablet to Waller. After a few seconds of looking and analysing the information, she spoke.

"It's fascinating how such a young boy can output such immense amounts of force. Do we have any idea how he was able to do it?" She asked, to which the scientist shook his head.

"Other than the incredibly obscure footage we were able to capture and the…uninformative report given by Harley and Jay, we have no leads as to how he was able to do this." He confessed as he was handed back the tablet and was given a signal to leave. Before he turned around, he couldn't help but notice the familiar young boy Waller was viewing.

"Director, with all due respect, but don't you think it would be better to have the child as a friend, rather than an enemy?" He asked, trying his best to be respectful.

"Yes, of course. Although he wouldn't pose me any major threat, since I could neutralise him in about 50 different ways, only by raising a finger and dialling a number, I will admit that he has his uses." She admitted, making the scientist raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"So why don't you?" He said while holding his breath, however, his heart sank when she turned in her chair and stared straight into his eyes.

"Because the only thing better than both friend and foe, is a tool. A tool you can use for your needs whenever you want. A tool is useful, a tool is loyal, and when a tool has outgrown its usefulness, it can easily and simply be discarded and replaced. Never forget that."

***

Isaac sat with his legs crossed as he breathed rhythmically in his cell. A few beads of sweat poured down his face as he opened his eyes and stood up. In the next seconds, he ripped off both the casts on his arms as he flexed them.

"They aren't fully healed, but they are usable." He said as he thought about the move he performed. He had never successfully executed it with Qi before, therefore the results of the move shocked even him.

"Grandpa wasn't kidding. The backlash of this move is damaging if not perfected." As he said this, he started to think about whether or not his grandpa was home yet. The first thing he'd see is their neighbourhood partially destroyed as well as their apartment demolished. Or perhaps he was denied access as authorities decided to involve themselves in the ruckus. He even believed that Argus cleaned everything up before anyone saw it.

They most likely closed down the surrounding area during the battle anyway, as evidenced by the quiet streets as he walked home from school and how no one was to be seen during their chaotic battle, so it wouldn't be unbelievable.

Isaac shook his head at how well-prepared Argus was while he didn't even have a clue he was about to be attacked. Waller had even told him they were intercepting letters from his Grandpa, which he deeply felt anger about. No wonder he hadn't heard from the old man in a while.

"Stupid Grandpa. Who the hell sends letters in this day and age?" He said, however, the most shocking and unexpected part was when Waller pulled a well-designed and crafty box from one of her workers. Inside it, perhaps a dozen VitaFlow capsules that dazzled and sparked brightly. Isaac almost spat blood as he counted the value of the small box. He was both confused and stunned at the same time. Who was sending him boxes of VitaFlow pills and why? Although Isaac had no answers, he was almost certain this had something to do with his grandfather.

Despite the value of the small box being high, that wasn't the first thing Isaac noticed. Instead, it was the Qi that was packed in the small container. After using his Qi sense, he determined that was enough to allow him to make immense progress.

Alas, that was now not a choice. Since that day, Isaac was constantly thinking of ways to increase his Qi. If he was going to spend so much time in this cell, he might as well get something out of it. He decided to not think of the possibility of acquiring the box, since that wouldn't be happening anytime soon. Instead, he thought of a way to increase his Qi without having to rely on an external source.

"Well, that's easier said than done." The only example Isaac knew of gathering and cultivating Qi was from Master Subhuti from when he died, other than that, he had never seen any sort of Qi be utilised.

"That's not completely true." After a few seconds, Isaac remembered a certain night when he fought with his Grandpa as the Monkey King. For some reason, his grandpa knew how to utilise Qi, and it was in a way that was completely different from his Serenity Breath.

With the Serenity Breath, one would balance the inhaling of Qi, as well as the exhaling of impurities, ridding the body of anything harmful. The Serenity Breath was mostly the reason why Isaac was able to get in great shape in such a short time. He didn't notice until later, however, it also improved his endurance and vitality. As well as making cultivation easier. However, his Grandpa completely disregarded the latter half of the Serenity Breath and instead breathed in immense amounts of Qi to be used temporarily, giving the user far better results than a mere initial stage cultivator could accomplish. It's as if this breathing technique was created while completely disregarding the Dantian.

After a few seconds, Isaac's eyes shot open as a light bulb lit up inside his mind.

"What if I combine them?" He thought. No one could deny the fact that both breathing techniques had flaws, but what if he could nullify the weaknesses by using the other's strengths? He could imitate the breathing of his Grandpa and instead of using all that energy in one go, he would store it in his Dantian, increasing his Qi and making great progress in his cultivation.

Isaac didn't take another second to think as he sat down and started concentrating. In a few seconds, Isaac started to see specs of green particles in the air and started to breathe. In a single breath, Isaac imitated his Grandfather and inhaled immense amounts of Qi, more than he had ever inhaled in his life, but not quite as much as his Grandfather.

"Step one is complete." He thought as he struggled to guide the overflowing energy through his meridians. A downpour of sweat exuded from Isaac as his body shook slightly. After inhaling, Isaac held his breath for a few seconds and started to exhale. As he did, he felt an excruciating pain course through his body. In the next second, Isaac shot open his eyes as he fell to his hands and knees, vomiting a pool of blood, his eyes threatening to pop out of his skull.

He felt as if his insides were being tangled together and his bodily functions had been forcefully brought to a stop. He couldn't breathe and the blood wouldn't stop flooding from his mouth. His eyelids started to become heavy and his vision started to blur. His eyes hollowed out as he finally fell to the ground, unconscious.

***

A boy could be seen slowly opening his eyes, on his bed as he looked around the room. As usual, he found himself in the grey stone room with a metal sink and toilet. He looked to the ground to see a few specs of dried blood as his memory started to return.

"Mr Hale, you're finally awake." Said a familiar voice from behind Isaac's door, speaking through the barred slot.

"How long was I unconscious?" He asked, getting up from his bed, noticing that he didn't seem to feel anything wrong with him, other than the instance ache in his body.

"Twelve hours. You suddenly collapsed to the ground after expelling worrying amounts of blood. Your organs randomly shut down, almost killing you, we still don't know what the cause was." She explained as Isaac's eyes widened in shock.

"I'm not sure what you do when you're alone, but be mindful. It's too soon for you to die." Said Waller as she walked away.

"Twelve hours?" Isaac stood up as he stretched his body slightly, the ache burning through his being.

"Well, that backfired." He said, trying to figure out the problem. He realised after a few minutes that integrating Grandpa's breathing technique into his would be like trying to push and pull at the same time. They were complete opposites and had a hard time working together. Using his Grandpa's technique disrupted the perfect equilibrium between inhaling Qi and exhaling impurities he used with his Serenity Breath.

The balance was tipped and the Qi increased beyond the threshold, leading to consequences during the exhaling phase. The body's meridians became overwhelmed with the surplus of Qi. The imbalance created an intense buildup of energy within the meridians, causing disruptions and blockages in the natural flow of Qi.

As a result, during the exhaling part of the breathing process, instead of smoothly releasing impurities and blockages, the excessive Qi created a turbulent effect. It manifested as an erratic or forceful release of energy, as seen when he vomited blood. As heard from Waller, his bodily functions had also shut down as a result.

"I'll try again, but only with a small amount of Qi this time." He said as he sat down in a lotus position. He started to concentrate and breathe rhythmically, and soon, he saw green specs floating in the air. Unlike the previous time, he breathed in an adequate amount of Qi, more than he usually would. It entered his body as he commanded it through his meridians. It wasn't as difficult as before, however, it still took immense concentration.

After he was done inhaling, he prepared to exhale. As he did, he started to feel discomfort in his body. Stabs of pain that coursed through his insides. Isaac gritted his teeth as he continued. His clothes became drenched in sweat and his body started to shake. As this happened, Isaac's body started to suspiciously move. He arched his usually straight back backwards as he faced the back wall, stretching his chest. At that moment, Isaac started to feel the discomfort in his body start to subside.

He felt the stabbing pain become more comfortable and he continued to breathe. However, after a few seconds, the pain returned. Once again, Isaac unknowingly moved his body, this time he arched his back forward, stretching his spine. Isaac started to feel the pain wither away again, encouraging him to continue, knowing it was safe. As this went on, Isaac would feel the pain inside him and unknowingly stretch his body making the discomfort somewhat more tolerable. He continued like this during his cultivation, unknowingly as one could see him stretch in a peculiar position every so often.

After a while, Isaac finally exhaled, releasing what seemed to be steam from his mouth. The Qi he had breathed in had been far more potent than usual, making the impurity he exhaled more concentrated as well, thanks to the balance between inhaling and exhaling. All he needed to do was overcome the backlash of combining the two breathing techniques to the fullest.

As Isaac opened his eyes, he found himself in a peculiar position with his legs twisted and spine arched. Isaac stood up and scratched his head in confusion.

"Was I that focused on what I was doing?" He found it hard to believe he was moving during his cultivation and didn't even notice. But what else could it be? After a few seconds, he smacked his fist into his palm and smiled.

"I knew it! I knew the pain was going away for a reason!" He yelled, grinning and sitting back down. He felt the pain during the cultivation, and he also noticed how it would suspiciously become more comfortable after a few seconds.

"Let's do this one more time."

***

"This is good. It took me three hours to make this sequence so it better work." Isaac stood up from the floor as he stared at where he had moved from. He dropped a rock in his hand and stared at a white drawing of what looked to be stickmen posing strangely.

Isaac stared at it with a smile as he dusted his hands and closed his eyes. He started to breathe and concentrate and soon, he saw familiar green specs in the air. He had started to cultivate, however, he wasn't in the same seated position he usually would be in.

As he stood with his arms by his sides, he breathed in more Qi than he had previously. A gentle flow of pure energy filled his meridians as he started to sweat. The usual pain started to enter his body as Isaac could be seen moving.

He first arched his back and bent his knees, stretching his arms backwards, posing in a very bizarre position. He held this for a while and felt the pain and discomfort drastically decrease. After a minute or two, he started to feel the pain once again. This time he began to rotate his torso to the right as his arms followed the movement in a spiral motion.

As expected, he felt the pain decrease. After a minute, he switched sides and rotated his torso to the left. Isaac went on with these movements, even jumping and lying on the floor sometimes. With each stretch and movement, Isaac found the pain of the excess Qi lessening. As he progressed, he started to inhale more and more Qi than before, but not too much. He would then start to stretch as he commanded the Qi through his body. After he exhaled, he would once again inhale more Qi than earlier.

He would go on for hours and during the end, Isaac would be inhaling vast amounts of Qi he never thought possible. Of course, this was still extremely taxing for him. He would shake violently as every fibre in his body would yell in pain, however, unlike the pain he had experienced before, this was the pain of achievement, the pain he yearned for.

Isaac opened his eyes after an hour of cultivating as he stood up from the peculiar position he was in, dusting himself off. He could only cultivate for an hour with this new breathing technique since the immense Qi entering his body would be fatal to his heart if he didn't enhance it tenfold. This went to show the difference between his old breathing technique and the new one, seeing as how he could cultivate for the whole night using regular Serenity Breathing. The results were also worlds apart. In that hour, Isaac had cultivated more than he usually would in a few days.

The whole cell felt like a sauna as one could see the humidity and steam in the air. This was the impurities Isaac had expelled from his body, it was also more than he had ever expelled in one sitting. Since the inhaled Qi was increased and successfully exhaled, the impurities expelled had also shown massive improvement, courtesy of the equalisation between inhaling and exhaling of the Serenity Breath.

Isaac commended himself on creating this new breathing technique, although it almost killed him, it was worth it in the long run. To decrease the fatality rate, Isaac added the peculiar stretching after three hours of testing different positions. It allowed him to stabilize the body and disperse excess energy, prompting a smoother release of impurities during the exhaling phase.

Despite this helping with the struggles of the new breathing technique, he still couldn't be reckless and inhale too much Qi on his first attempt. Instead, he gradually increased the amount he inhaled until he was taking in vast amounts of Qi that even his Grandpa would be proud of.

"Don't I need a new name for this new breathing technique?" Thought Isaac, trying his best to think through the severe aching of his body.

"Serenity Impulse Breathing? I like it." He said with a wide grin. He clenched his fists, ignoring the immense pain, and clenched his teeth.

"This is how I'll do it. This is how I'll break through the initial stage of cultivation."

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