The value of breath is more than all wealth and power one can have in life, for every breath gone has lessened that much life. Suppose a person is made with the energy of a hundred breaths - he may take them in one hour and die, or by controlling them through rhythm he may finish a hundred breaths in a day. It is just like a clock: if its tick goes slower it will last much longer than the hours of its limitation, and when the beat is quicker it will stop long before its winding hour.