Equivalent exchange

Everyone from school 12 had their own problems but it would not be an exaggeration to say Noah faced the biggest one of them all.

One thing Master Anng always said: Chi followed its own path.

Not complicated formulas. Not impossible techniques. Just pure, focused intention.

Noah's body was failing. Diana's dead zone crushed down, nullifying every potential movement. But chi wasn't just movement. Chi was survival.

'Breathe,' he told himself. 'Just breathe.'

His lungs were struggling. Oxygen transfer becoming difficult. Blood flow restricted. But chi didn't need perfect conditions. It needed focus.

'I'm not escaping,' he realized. 'I'm surviving.'

The distinction was critical.

His muscles, locked and cold, received minimal chi support. Not to move. Not to fight. Just to prevent total cellular death.

Diana's dead zone was absolute. No momentum allowed. No spatial repositioning possible.

But survival? That was negotiable.