A modern-day cultivation story. The protagonist has no romantic pairing. Please bear with the writing, I'm not very good at it.
Scene One: Li Baixing is grabbed by the collar while her friend yells in her face, "Didn't you say you weren't cultivating? Weren't we supposed to share both fortune and hardship, and never forget each other? I'm still holding on to the core values of materialism, and you've started cultivating!"
Li Baixing gives a somewhat bitter smile.
"I told you to believe in science! I was just tinkering around. I never thought things would turn out like this! If this stuff actually worked, with the relationship we have, would I really not bring you along?"
Scene Two: "I really was just tinkering around! I never thought it would actually work. Does a wild cultivator like me even count as a Taoist? I don't think so."
The Taoists who came to discuss the Dao with her say, "Sure. If you say you are, then you are."
