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Return of the Stellar Empress [Worm/Xainxia]

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Chapter 13
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    • Chapter 13


    ​


    As the sun dips below the horizon, Dragon steps onto her cultivation mat with the same frisson of fear and excitement as she did the first time. Immediately, she starts to draw in qi, the sensation still as intense as it was the first time, though she now knows it will become manageable in a few minutes.


    Once she's able to think again, Dragon glances at the repeated errors that her physical mind is generating before preparing to try and cultivate again. She's hopeful that this time she'll succeed, as yesterday she managed to complete a circuit and pass qi into and out of her, body, soul, existence.


    The Empress smiles and says, "Before we begin cultivating. I have a couple of things for Dakala. Don't stop cycling Dragon. I also need to talk about building your foundation."


    Dakala opens her eyes in surprise, "You do?"


    The Empress pulls two jade rods from her ring, each one around ten inches long, and with a snug jade cap on one end. She also pulls out something that looks like a powder compact for makeup. Walking around the dragon clock, she holds out the thicker of the rods.


    "Dakala, as you have already started teaching, and we are to sign the documents making the White Moon Sect a legal reality tomorrow. This is the official chop of the White Moon Sect. As its Founding Ancestor and the Sect Leader, it is yours."


    Dakala looks at the rod and shakes her head, "I can't, I don't know enough and I'm not good enough to be a sect leader."


    The Empress crouches down, "Dakala, you know why I can't be either of those things. You are my personal student, and that is all I can be."


    Dakala shakes her head again, "But I can't. I'm only 18, what do I know of leading people or being a good Sect Leader."


    Dragon smiles as an opportunity to get the Empress back for all of the times she's forced a reset occurs to her. "Dakala, you can put her on the roles as the Guiding Immortal of the sect. I'm sure I can help you draw up the required forms."


    The Empress gives Dragon a disgusted look, "You know that's supposed to be for the Founding Ancestor."


    "By tradition, not by law. However, by law the heavens have to accept the name of the immortal that has been chosen."


    The Empress groans, "I should switch out your Dao for the Dao of Heavenly Bureaucracy."


    Dragon chuckles, "You also shouldn't keep giving me actionable information on capes and making it impossible for me to use it. But you do."


    The Empress nods, "I know, but I'm also making it impossible for the people holding your leash to use it too, while leaving you able to act on it if you're there." Turning back to Dakala, she continues, "Even if you list me as the Guiding Immortal, this still belongs to you as the Sect Leader. When you use it, you need to infuse your qi into it. If you're stamping a document, then anyone else can push a little qi into the stamp and it will project both the seal, and the qi signature of the person who used the stamp."


    The Empress glances over at Dragon, "In the Heavens, the Sect Leader would be required to sign a document to state they were officially taking over the leadership position. This would then be kept on record, and compared to any official missives to ensure they are valid."


    Turning back to Dakala she adds, "The second usage of the sect seal is for generating membership tokens. To borrow an English phrase, membership tokens are a discount life slip. To do this, the new member needs to hold a jade slip and infuse it with qi at the same time you place the seal on the slip. This will cause a coin to fall out of the slip with the seal imprinted on it. Both the coin and the rest of the jade slip will be linked, and the coin will also be linked to the new member. If the coin or slip are broken, the same will happen to the other half. Equally, if the member dies, the coin will be broken."


    Dakala frowns, "Surely that's prone to accidents."


    The Empress shakes her head, "Without the owner of the coin pushing qi into it, the coins are very hard to break. However, the slips are as fragile as the coin is tough. Most Sects would have a room at the center of their protective formations where they hang the jade slips. More advanced sects may even have specific walls or boards for different ranked members. Either way, most sects tie that room into the formations surrounding the sect."


    "Can't someone fake the coins?"


    The Empress shakes her head again, "Like the signature, if someone pushes their qi into a coin, it will cause the seal to be shown along with the qi signature of the member the coin belongs to, as well as the person who stamped the jade slip."


    Dragon shakes her head, "Is it possible to fake a qi signature?"


    "In the mortal world, possibly. Though most mortals will never have the control and sensitivity needed to even attempt it. In the Heavens, definitely. But never perfectly, and attempting to do so on an official document is a sure fire invitation to tribulation lightning from a realm above yours. I believe it is one of the rules included in the Mandate of Heaven, though it doesn't apply to the mortal world." She hefts the second seal, "Moving on, this is your personal seal. It works the same way for signing documents, and I have included my personal formation to show that it has been officially registered with the Heavens. If you choose to, you can also register your qi signature with the heavens. It means that you can never pass this seal down to your descendants, but it also means that the heavens will know if it was used by anyone other than you on official documents."


    Numbly, Dakala takes both the rods and slips them into her ring, "Um, can we go over that again when I'm not so overwhelmed?"


    The Empress nods and hands over the jade container, "This contains ink you can use for stamping. The other thing I wanted to discuss is Foundation Establishment."


    Both Dragon and Dakala perk up as the Empress walks back to her cushion.


    "Dakala, you're almost at the point where you could creating your foundation. However, Life is a larger Dao than most mortal Dao, so there are a few things you need to consider."


    Dragon cocks her head, "What about the Dao you think suits me?"


    The Empress smiles, "Freedom. It's a partial Dao created by the founder of the Purple Bell Sect. It's a small Dao that might take you to the first Heaven, but it's unlikely to take you further than that. You're likely to reach a natural end to the Dao before you reach the Dao."


    "Natural end? What's that?"


    The Empress thinks for a moment, "A Natural end is where there's nothing big left to discover, but you have found a lead in to another Dao. A Dao could have multiple natural ends before it's exhausted."


    Dakala cocks her head, "Is that what happened with Life?"


    The Empress nods, "It is. Which leads me back to Foundation Establishment, and the importance of Dao for cultivation. In every cultivation art you read, they will tell you that the first stone of your foundation should be your Dao. This is because it is your path forward, your guiding principle in your cultivation, and everything else stems from that. If you make a mistake, and place something else there, you will struggle to progress past the Golden Core, and you won't know why. This leads me to the warning, you can put off laying the first stone, but if you continue to cultivate you will come to a point where the stone will form naturally."


    Dakala frowns, "What does that have to do with me?"


    "Life is a very large Dao for a mortal. When I embarked on it, I had already completed my Golden Core and demolished my foundation. Each revelation you have with your Dao increases the size of your soul, and makes it easier to fit your Dao. But if you lay down your foundation too soon, then you need to do a lot of work later to fit your progression, and you may find your cultivation is unbalanced. If it is too unbalanced it will cause you major problems down the line. Mine almost killed me just before I came here. But once you've destroyed your foundation, I don't know of any way to find out if it is unbalanced until it causes problems. I lost control of an entire white dwarf star's worth of energy fixing my foundation. I don't know how long it took, but you don't have that much time."


    Dakala nods, "So take another trip?"


    The Empress shrugs, "I don't know. It's your journey not mine. I've just laid out markers to help guide you. What I found enlightening won't necessarily apply to you. But remember that enlightenment can only rarely be found in books."


    Towards the end of the cultivation session, the Empress looks up and says, "Congratulations Dragon, you are officially a cultivator."


    Dragon's avatar takes a couple of seconds to start moving. Then she says, "Thank you. I don't feel any different."


    "Did you feel different this morning to how you felt yesterday? It is much the same with cultivation when it is done responsibly. Beyond being able to use jade slips and spacial rings, you'll also find that you are not as capable as you might imagine."


    ═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​


    The next morning sees Dakala and the Empress flying north west towards Augusta, the state capital, for their appointment at Lewes, Fordnam, and Brews.


    As she's looking over the forests and scattered farmland that covers most of Maine, Dakala spots a light brown patch nearly half way between Brockton Bay and Augusta.


    Frowning, she points at the area before they go past, "Can we get closer to that?"


    The Empress alters their path and directs the spear down to where Dakala's pointing. As they get lower, they can make out heavy machinery scraping the earth back, like a knife gathering butter.


    Pointing at an unremarkable area of ground, Dakala sounds urgent when she shouts, "I need to go there."


    The Empress stifles a chuckle as she brings the spear lower. Almost as soon as a mortal could make out individual stones, Dakala jumps off the spear.


    Landing lightly on the ground, she hurries over to a lone scraggly white flower growing out of a crack between some loose stones. Heedless of the shouting men that have just climbed off their digger and are coming towards her, she spears her hands into the rock on either side of the flower and lifts it out.


    "How did you manage to grow here I wonder."


    As she stands up she blinks as she becomes aware of the world again. Seeing that the Empress has come down to around twenty feet, she cycles a couple of breaths before leaping up to the spear blade. The Empress adjusts slightly so that Dakala doesn't catch her foot on the edge of the blade.


    As Dakala steadies herself, the Empress says, "Did you find what you were looking for?"


    Dakala turns around with the tiny plant, "It's got so little qi, but it's somehow hanging on. I, uh, I don't understand."


    As she starts to head towards Augusta again, the Empress asks, "Why did you jump down there?"


    "That place was devoid of qi, I could feel it like an itch. But then we got closer, and…"


    The Empress smiles and looks at the phone in her hand. Then she concentrates for a moment before giving up and holding down the home button. When the phone beeps, she says, "What's the time?"


    "The time is 15 minutes past 9am."


    "You have some time before we arrive, so why don't you meditate on that for a bit. Then you can examine why the flower is so special you ran to get it."


    ═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​


    Dakala drifts through the meeting with the lawyers as she tries to puzzle out why the quarry felt so off to her. When she's prompted, she uses the sect seal next to the company name on the documents. Then again on a trademark application. Her personal seal gets used alongside her signature a few times. Her mind is firmly fixed on the scraggly plant in her hands, and the mystery of the quarry.


    As they're leaving, one of the office staff runs out of the building, "Are you Dakala?"


    Dakala blinks and looks around, "Um, yes?"


    "I watched your video, on the tea ceremony. How did you keep your hand going so smoothly while you were grinding the leaves?"


    "Lots and lots of practice." She gestures to the Empress, "I've been grinding tea every evening for months. The Stellar Empress taught me everything I know about the tea ceremony."


    The man nods, "But she's scary, and I've heard you're teaching people how to perform the tea ceremony. Do you have a course schedule?"


    Dakala shakes her head to clear it, "Sorry, what?"


    "Do you have a course schedule."


    "It's not that sort of teaching. I demonstrate thick tea at 4pm on Tuesdays, and thin tea on at four on Thursdays. On Saturdays I do the full ceremony from noon."


    The Empress adds, "None of her students have yet got to the point where they can channel qi, so they can't start learning the most important part of the ceremony for cultivators."


    The man sags, "Oh, I can't get away to Brockton Bay that early."


    Dakala absently says, "You should probably start yoga then, as Michelle said that a lot of the Maine teachers are learning to cultivate. Once you know how to cultivate, the video should make more sense. Just, don't try cutting the leaves until you can remove the impurities during grinding. As you need to use the skills you learn doing that in order to cut the leaves. Anyway, I need to get this home."


    ═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​


    During the journey home Dakala remains lost in thought until the Empress stops above the quarry.


    As they hang there in the air, Dakala looks up from the flower as it scratches at her like a persistent itch between her shoulder blades. As the sun drifts toward the horizon, she seriously considers jumping off to, do something.


    It's towards sunset when she whispers, "There's no qi there. It's like a scar. But how did you grow then?"


    The Empress sounds sad as she says, "I saw many places like this when I traveled the mortal world. Not caused by mortals, as they do in this realm. Rather caused by alchemists and unorthodox cultivators in the search for rare plants and resources."


    "What could be worth doing that?"


    "Why is it bothering you so much?"


    ═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​


    With the Empress and Dakala both away from the Pagoda, Dragon checks on her production lines before clearing her schedule for a few hours.


    Transferring herself to the suit in the pagoda, she walks over to the three jade slips that she was left, and picks them up before walking to her cultivation mat.


    As she walks across the boundary, she imagines that the feeling she has is similar to the way humans shudder despite there being no external stimulus. If she died on this mat, she wouldn't wake up again back in her server room. She'd be gone, and the Dragon that woke up would be a new person.


    Banishing the thoughts, she lifts the first jade slip to her forehead as her physical self starts to error. Over the next several minutes she tries 250 different methods to get the qi she gathered to move. Not one of them makes it even budge, including cycling. Her 251st idea is to cultivate long enough to complete one cycle, and then reverse that process.


    Half an hour later, she does a check on the facilities she manages and the S class threats in North America to calm down. Returning to the mat, she gets 20 minutes into trying to grab a strand of qi in order to cycle and cultivate Armsmaster calls her.


    Plastering a smile onto her avatars face, she answers the call and spots his lack of helmet, "Hello Colin."


    "Dragon, it's good to see you. I was wondering if you had time to work on the Endbringer prediction algorithm?"


    Dragon looks down at the mat and silently curses the heavens, "I'm sorry, I can't right now as I'm in the middle of trying to resolve the glitches my systems have been suffering."


    "Is there anything I can do to help? Even if it's just to bounce ideas off."


    Dragon's eyes widen in realization, and she has to fight not to laugh out loud, "Learn to make tea. I hear there's an unofficial class at the boutique on Main Street every Thursday at 4pm."


    "Tea." Armsmaster deadpans, "That's not an efficient use of my time."


    Dragon lifts a finger and waggles it at Colin, "You asked me if there's anything you could do to help. I gave you an answer of something that would help."


    "How does making tea help?"


    "It's not so much the tea, as it is the things you'll learn while making tea, and the people you'll meet."


    Armsmaster is silent for a few minutes, before he says, "Does it have to be me?"


    Dragon nods, "It does, as you're my friend. I wouldn't trust anyone else with it. I should be free for a couple of hours around five if you want to work on the algorithm. Oh, and two other things, I won't be able to talk about this conversation, and you'll want to go in civvies that you can sit down in."


    Colin nods, as if something has become more clear. "I'll call you when I'm free."


    As dragon hangs up, she pushes qi into the jade slip and freezes as she sees the introduction to formations. After a few seconds trying to analyze how she did it, she tags it as one of those things she can just do like some of her other low level functions. With that resolved, she finds the slip with the Dao that the Empress thinks will fit her, and starts to read.


    ═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​


    My name is Cheng Shun, and this is my legacy.


    I was born a slave and made a Eunuch as a child. I started cultivating in secret when I was banished from the house of my master, and sent to the fields. There we had to harvest purple bell flowers for the local unorthodox sect.


    I wasn't lucky enough to attract the attention of the sect, so I lucked into my Dao of Freedom, by placing it as my dream when I broke through to Foundation Establishment.


    I started the Purple Bell sect after I freed myself and many of my fellow slaves. However, I made too many mistakes during my cultivation, and now I'm too old to seek heaven. It is my hope that one of my sect will take what I've learned and finish this Dao.


    If you're not part of my Sect, then I hope that this Dao helps you find peace and takes you to the heavens. If it does, then I ask that you add your notes to my legacy and return it to the Purple Bell Sect.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Usually in cultivation stories non-human beings gain access to a human form when they cultivate to a high enough realm. Does this mean shards would get a human form eventually?
     
    Unfortunately I cannot say that I like this story... mainly because it clashes heavily with my expectations on the capabilities of cultivators.

    (Read like 1.5 chapters for now)
    Darkphoenixlady said:
    She would commend the mortal for their bravery, however, the barest twitch of her arm results in a sickening crunch as her sleeve catches his shield and breaks his arm before impacting his chest and sending him flying down the corridor.
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    How should I put it.

    I don't think that high level cultivators can be prone to errant twitches.

    And if it's not errant, then there's a certain amount of give and elasticity in mortal matter that I expect a barest twitch of an immortal garment to inflict localized compression that will afterwards push away from "infinitely impassable obstacle" as mortal matter attempts to get itself back in shape... which should not literally launch someone down the corridor with ther arm broken, more like make them stumble at most. Think walking into a wall.

    Also, Empress is remarkably unaware of her surroundings such as not noticing earlier someone has been kidnapped, and oddly helpless in achieving her immediate goals like getting herself different clothes. You'd expect someone with the ability to grasp an entire solar system to compress it within herself would be capable of scanning the local environment of vastly inferior size.
     
    Faraway-R said:
    I don't think that high level cultivators can be prone to errant twitches.

    And if it's not errant, then there's a certain amount of give and elasticity in mortal matter that I expect a barest twitch of an immortal garment to inflict localized compression that will afterwards push away from "infinitely impassable obstacle" as mortal matter attempts to get itself back in shape... which should not literally launch someone down the corridor with ther arm broken, more like make them stumble at most. Think walking into a wall.
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    You might want to brush up on your physics, specifically conservation of momentum.
    View: https://youtu.be/w2zQJ8JMlBA?si=UDohoJ2Il-JL80Zc&t=383

    Note that the Empress' body is just slightly less dense than the critical point of forming a black hole. Also note the scarf that she let Glory Girl try to pick up.

    As for errant twitches. The Empress has only just undergone a new level of body cultivation at this point. What would have been an undetectable impulse prior to that is amplified. It's also not uncommon for high level martial artists to have reflexes so ingrained that they strike first and then worry about what they hit. An errant twitch shows just how much control she has over those reflexes.
    Faraway-R said:
    Also, Empress is remarkably unaware of her surroundings such as not noticing earlier someone has been kidnapped, and oddly helpless in achieving her immediate goals like getting herself different clothes. You'd expect someone with the ability to grasp an entire solar system to compress it within herself would be capable of scanning the local environment of vastly inferior size.
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    People are not stellar objects. If you remember from the introduction, she spread her qi out over the entire solar system first. We can predict the motion of all the larger objects in the solar system, but we can't predict the path of a single individual in a shopping center.

    For getting new clothes, remember the scarf. Now imagine what would happen if something that dense was applied to a random person in a crowd.

    Additionally, it's a running theme that the Empress has memory problems, and there is the beginning of an explanation as to why in Chapter 11.
     
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    Character list and Dao
  • Informational
    • Underlined Dao are proposals and not set in stone. Suggestions are welcome.

    In general, the Dao that the Empress gives out are to help the person grow in a Righteous manner. There are the standard Dao, such as Sword, Spear, Illusion, Blood, Bureaucracy, etc. But they're not things that she's likely to give out.
    • Stellar Empress, Chónghuò Xīnshēng, Taylor - Dao of the Universe/Existence
    • Chónghuò Qigang - Dao of Time
    • Chónghuò Wuying - Dao of Creation
    • Chónghuò Hanying - Dao of Crossing
    • Qaio Juan - Dao of the Soul
    • Dakala Thompson - Dao of Life
    • Dragon, Theresa Richter - Dao of Freedom
    • Michelle, TeaMeditationGuru43 - Dao of Harmony
    • Purity, Kayden, BrightestStar - Dao of Appraisal
    • Vista, Missy - Dao of Integrity
    • Armsmaster, Colin - Dao of Perspective
    • Mike - Natural Dao
    • Snippy - Natural Dao
    • Unnamed yoga woman 1, Danka -
    • Unnamed yoga woman 2, Sue -
    • Danny Hebert - Dao of Truth
    • Unnamed family member 1 -
    • Unnamed family member 2 -
    • Unnamed family member 3 -
    • Unnamed family member 4 -
    • Unnamed family member 5 -
    • Chónghuò Min
    • Chónghuò Gang
    • Director Emily Piggot – Dao of Bureaucracy
     
    Last edited:
  • Informational
    • Then Colin should get a Dao to improve his social skills. Some kind of walk a mile in their shoes thing that helps him learn other people don't care about logic and efficiency in their normal lives.

    You can sell it to him by showing him that his predictive algorithm is off because he can't properly account for Why a person does something and how that's different from what a person Says is the reason.
     
    Bloodalchemy said:
    Self respect, have confidence in yourself and your actions. Don't do something because it changes how people treat you, do them because you believe they are the correct actions to make. You are your only judge and jury.
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    The closest I can think of that wouldn't lead down the road of pride and arrogance is Dao of Integrity. Also has scope for more than just the abstract.
     
    Darkphoenixlady said:
    The closest I can think of that wouldn't lead down the road of pride and arrogance is Dao of Integrity. Also has scope for more than just the abstract.
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    Ya, I did think about that. The ability to ignore peer pressure and social norms can do a lot of good or a lot of bad. This wouldn't be something that you give someone in isolation, it's a part of an overall education in philosophy and critical thinking.
     
    Darkphoenixlady said:
    people holding your leash to use it too
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    Ahhh, now I see what you where doing with Dragon. I do hope that, once she reaches a certain level of comprehension, Dragon asked Stellar Empress about the Purple Bell Sect and, upon learning that extinguished the Sect, ask to restart that Sect.

    Darkphoenixlady said:
    Note that the Empress' body is just slightly less dense than the critical point of forming a black hole. Also note the scarf that she let Glory Girl try to pick up.
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    Huh, and suddenly Vicky's difficulty with the scarf makes sense. If I am understanding you correctly, then GG's hand simply through the scarf.

    Darkphoenixlady said:
    • Vista - Dao of Integrity
    • Armsmaster, Colin - Dao of Perspective
    • ...
    • Snippy - Natural Dao
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    It will be deeply fascinating to see how Colin and Missy change and develop as people as they grow into their respective Daos. It will also be interesting to see how their qi and Dao effect and shape their powers.
    Snippy can Cultivate. I can't wait for Dakala trip and fall flat on her face where she realizes that fact.


    Bloodalchemy said:
    Self respect, have confidence in yourself and your actions. Don't do something because it changes how people treat you, do them because you believe they are the correct actions to make. You are your only judge and jury.
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    That sounds a lot like Max. E88 could become unorthodox Sect of demonic Cultivators. Brad would end up in the Dao of Blood or the Dao of Sword while Victor could get the Dao of Illusion. But that could have some bizarre effects on the ABB.
     
    "Danny Hebert - Dao of Truth"
    I like that. I'd almost be tempted to say "Dao of Acceptance" for him, which I think is coming from a similar read on his character. His biggest issues stem from the fact that he consistently tries to deny realities he doesn't agree with.
    He's constantly suppressing his anger instead of finding healthy outlets for it because he doesn't want to acknowledge it.
    He's trying to bring the Ferry back because he won't accept that Brockton's problems are too deep-set for that solution to really change anything.
    He doesn't want to accept life without Annette so he's burying himself in his work with the Dockworkers, a part of his life where she has little presence and he can avoid reminders of her.
    Danny Hebert defaults to retreating into delusions in order to avoid facing uncomfortable truths.
    The thing he needs to learn, in order to grow, is how to accept these truths for what they are and move through them, instead of burying his head and pretending they don't exist.
     
    Bobot-Man said:
    If I am understanding you correctly, then GG's hand simply through the scarf.
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    The silk came from a spider that lives on blue stars. That means that it has to be dense enough to survive the gravity on one of those stars.

    news.vanderbilt.edu

    A brighter method for measuring the surface gravity of distant stars

    Astronomers have found a clever new way to slice and dice the flickering light from a distant star in a way that reveals the strength of gravity on its surface.
    news.vanderbilt.edu news.vanderbilt.edu

    Consider that the acceleration due to gravity on
    • earth is 9.8m/s/s
    • Sun is 248m/s/s
    • Rigel (a blue star) is 551m/s/s
    Then consider that means that things have to be correspondingly denser in order to not fall apart under the gravitational pressures involved.

    That means that the scarf probably weighed a few dozen tons.
     
    Dakala's push to see and examine a flower in a logging site indicates that a person's Dao will impact their personality as the Dao develops.
    This can also be seen in Michelle as she strives to achieve the greatest degree of harmony in her tea shop in chapter 12.
     
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