
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
Given an arithmetic sequence $\{a_n\}$ satisfies $a_3 = 7$, and $a_5 + a_7 = 26$.  
    (1) Find the general term $a_n$;  
    (2) Let $b_n = \frac{1}{a_n} \ (n \in \mathbb{N}^*)$, find the sum of the first $n$ terms of the sequence $\{b_n\}$, denoted as $T_n$.

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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