Transcending Boundaries: Journey to the Infinite

Untitled Part 9

Falling Asleep

"I am asleep, yet I am awake."

"Remember to breathe, remember the heartbeat—"

"Digestion, endocrine, lymphatic, urinary systems... all working slowly and orderly..."

In a shallow pool barely a meter deep, Yang Chu leaned against the edge, slowly closing his eyes. His consciousness began to immerse itself within his body's internal systems, cutting off any perception of the outside world.

At the same time, his thoughts began to slow, merging his awareness with the water around him, calm with occasional ripples, but never completely lost.

This was a method he had learned from a book on how to fall asleep, which he read during the day.

It was a technique that could help a person fall asleep instantly under any circumstance, allowing them to relax their body while quickly waking up when needed.

Entering this state of rest and sleep was brief, but it allowed one to quickly slip into a kind of light nap anytime, anywhere. This method was particularly suitable for those with busy lives and work schedules who often couldn't ensure a full night's sleep.

This technique of short, intermittent sleep often allowed people to quickly enter a light sleep state, and occasionally even a deep sleep phase, thereby rapidly restoring energy.

However, Yang Chu's approach was not exactly the same.

Aside from clearing his mind, he kept a certain level of awareness, maintaining the circulation of all the major systems in his body.

This state—

To Yang Chu, it seemed quite similar to self-hypnosis or meditation.

Or perhaps, to describe it more vividly, it was like the internal cultivation described in the martial arts novels that were once all the rage in Hong Kong.

Maybe it was because Yang Chu was mentally exhausted, or perhaps it was because he was in the water—

This attempt of his lasted only a few seconds. He lost all external perception as his mind became absorbed in his body, slipping into a state somewhere between sleep and wakefulness.

It seemed that only a faint part of his consciousness, after the self-hypnosis, was still controlling the functions of his body's systems.

Time seemed to stretch longer and longer. His breathing slowed, the intervals between heartbeats grew longer, and the other major systems only operated sluggishly in response to that faint awareness.

All was silent.

Yang Chu's consciousness sensed he was in a state of rest. The flow of blood, the lymphatic and endocrine systems seemed to be interacting with his brain in some way.

His lingering awareness seemed to transport him back to a day ago, to the moment when he first awoke in this body, as if his consciousness was standing in a pitch-black void.

The difference was that back then, he could feel the darkness gradually swallowing him, forcing him to struggle desperately to break free.

But now, it was as if he was once again in darkness—only this time, the darkness was like a drawn curtain.

The darkness didn't engulf him; instead, it became one with him. His consciousness spread throughout this darkness, and whenever he willed it, the darkness could instantly dissipate, revealing light all around. His awareness felt like it had turned into a dream of the brain.

Meanwhile, outside in the kiddie pool, Yang Chu's body gradually slid from leaning against the tiled wall to floating on the water, lying face-up.

...