Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Dancing with the Tree
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The East Continent had highly advanced puppetry.
More precisely, everything else had mostly been phased out.
The main reason Seoran had endlessly attended puppetry lectures in the Scholar's District was because she wanted to.
But it was also true that the lectures lacked diversity.
This was all because the Five Elements Treefolk were just too exceptional.
Five Elements Treefolk were born with random elemental affinities.
If they were born with a fire spirit root, they became fire spirit treefolk; with a wood spirit root, wood spirit treefolk—something like that.
They were called Five Elements Treefolk because all five elemental spirit trees existed within the race.
These trees would often prune their branches for beauty and health, and the byproducts were Five Elements Wood.
If over a hundred years old, it was century-old Five Elements Wood; over a thousand, millennium Five Elements Wood.
The Millennium Earth Spirit Wood that Seoran had coveted was essentially a side branch pruned from an earth spirit treefolk who had lived over a thousand years.
This was why the massive spirit trees dominating the Great Forest's surface didn't block entry to the mountain hermit groups.
It was nearly impossible for the oversized, clumsy tree race to prune themselves satisfactorily by their own hands.
The Five Elements Treefolk needed human gardeners.
It was like the relationship between a beautician and their client getting a haircut.
Once the Five Elements Treefolk were satisfactorily pruned, they gave the side branches that had fallen from their bodies to the gardeners.
What were mere side branches to the massive spirit trees were logs no different from full trunks in human eyes.
It was a symbiotic relationship that made both the gardeners and the Five Elements Treefolk happy.
This was how Five Elements Wood circulated in the markets, and most of it was used to craft puppets.
Wood was the material most favored by puppet masters.
The pinnacle of puppetry was turning the inanimate into the living.
It only made sense, then, that wood—which was inherently part of a living being—would be the ultimate puppet material.
Even better, Five Elements Treefolk wood harmonized perfectly with any elemental spiritual power without repulsion.
It was wood that possessed different elements within itself.
With pure earth spiritual power, one could use fire spirit wood; with pure metal spiritual power, metal spirit wood—and puppetry could be performed without any loss in efficiency.
Puppetry as a spell blended pure spell characteristics with pure spiritual tool characteristics.
A good puppet was half the skill of the puppet master who made it.
And the other half was the quality of the materials.
This was why puppetry had become mainstream on the East Continent.
It excelled in efficiency, versatility, and even its limitations were superior.
Not using puppetry would make one a fool.
As a result, most other spells and spiritual tools had fallen into obscurity.
Puppet masters gradually increased in number, and everyone wanted a share of the Five Elements Wood.
In the end, tragedy struck.
A particularly malicious major sect caused the problem.
Instead of fair pruning, they tried to mass-produce Five Elements Wood by decapitating massive spirit trees.
The first time they killed a Five Elements Treefolk, that sect declared:
"Why bother with petty pruning?
Chop off the head clean, and the Five Elements Wood multiplies.
You should do it too—materials will come pouring out."
When your in-law buys land, your stomach aches.
To cure the stomachache, you had to buy land too.
And from the sidelines, it looked incredibly easy.
In the end, a coalition of major sects swarmed into the Great Forest, leading to an unprecedented tragedy.
They ended up fighting Mother Nature itself.
Blasted by barrages of high-level spells filling their vision, even high-realm cultivators died like flies.
From the perspective of the Great Forest's owners, it was a comedy.
After a decisive victory in the defensive war, the Five Elements Treefolk expelled all the capital sects from the Great Forest.
They spared the feeble mountain hermits, though.
They needed gardeners for pruning, after all.
This was the origin of the neutral city of Taibon Valley.
*****
Seoran headed to the Artists' District first.
It was where the gardeners gathered.
She planned to set up shop and scout for partners.
When she went to the Artists' Guild to register her business, the guild staff handling intake asked:
"Would you like to register as an official gardener with the Artists' Guild?"
"No."
"If you join now, you'll get advertising subsidies and rental discounts. Are you sure?"
"Joining requires auctioning all pruning rewards to the auction house first. No thanks."
Seoran had become a gardener for puppet materials.
No matter how good the guild benefits were, she couldn't accept handing over Five Elements Wood to the auction house.
In the end, Seoran registered as a non-guild gardener.
Then, as soon as she went to the person in charge to set up her shop, she tasted society's bitterness firsthand.
"This plot is reserved for guild members only."
"What about this building?"
"That's also a guild-member exclusive rental."
"No way..."
"Would you like to join the guild?"
"I'm not joining."
Seoran had amassed great wealth from her instructor days.
But as a non-guild member, she could only open her shop in a deserted alley instead of the bustling streets.
No matter how much money she had, permits were denied.
The same thing happened when applying for outdoor advertising.
"Make it the largest billboard possible."
The advertising installer replied:
"Are you a guild member?"
"No. Then is medium size possible?"
"We can do a sidewalk sign at best."
"Uh..."
"Would you like to join the Artists' Guild?"
"No."
The Artists' Guild folks were incredibly persistent.
This group, backed by major sects, was desperate to impress their funders.
They had to keep recruiting gardeners as members and meet their quotas for Five Elements Wood routed to the auction house.
The Artists' Guild was a so-called mountain hermit group in name only—it was practically a subsidiary of the major sects.
Even major sects banned from the Great Forest could exert indirect influence through them.
With overwhelming capital, they monopolized key spots in the Artists' District and enforced discriminatory policies.
The Five Elements Treefolk had zero interest in such petty issues, making it even worse.
In the end, Seoran barely managed to snag a single sidewalk sign.
It was a shabby thing made from a palm-sized plank.
Yellow cards were piling up in her mind.
Seoran muttered curses to herself on the way to her shop.
Seriously, what is this, a board game?
Monopolize one street and double the toll fees?
This is so dirty, I can't even.
Grumbling, she tidied up the rundown shop and wrote on the sidewalk sign:
'I'll make you outstanding!'
The unknown gardener Ryu Seoran had entered the Artists' District.
Surprisingly, no one paid her any attention.
*****
Only ten days until registration closed.
Seoran did her best.
Holding the small placard with her ad copy, she went to the bustling streets and promoted vigorously.
Advertising flights were banned, so to compensate for her short stature, she had to hold the placard high overhead.
But it was all meaningless.
To the Five Elements Treefolk—who were several times larger than baobab trees on Earth—Seoran was invisible.
It was like an ant shouting at the top of its lungs; it never reached the elephant's ears.
If she could have hung a massive billboard, she wouldn't have faced this cold indifference.
It was a time when she could truly feel the plight of the little match girl wandering the snowy streets.
Seoran gradually grew despondent.
People who feel full without eating when they have attention wither away without it.
Her once booming voice was starting to falter.
Then, someone asked her:
"Excuse me, are you participating in the Beautiful Tree Contest?"
Seoran looked up.
Thick legs made of tree roots came into view.
Tilting her head back further revealed the trunk, arms, face, and lush branches sprouting above the head.
A walking tree giant—a Five Elements Treefolk.
The other party hesitated with a timid expression.
"Uh, do you not know about it?"
Seoran shouted loudly.
"No, I'm a participant!"
Hearing that, the tree's face brightened slightly.
Seoran finished speaking and waited for the other's reply.
But the Five Elements Treefolk just mumbled without responding.
So Seoran spoke first.
"Are you thinking of entering the Beautiful Tree Contest?!"
She yelled as loud as she could, afraid it wouldn't be heard.
Fortunately, it seemed to reach the other.
The tree made an even more troubled face than before.
Then, abruptly, it apologized.
"Um, sorry. Please forget the question I just asked."
Seoran grabbed the departing Five Elements Treefolk.
"Wait, hold on!"
The Five Elements Treefolk stopped as instructed.
"Don't you want to enter the Beautiful Tree Contest?! If you're interested, let's enter together! I don't have a partner yet either!"
The Five Elements Treefolk, who had been carefully choosing words for a while, replied.
"No, I was interested at first... but on second thought, I lack confidence, and it feels presumptuous. Anyway, sorry for bothering you."
Seoran pressed on without giving up.
"Why do you lack confidence?!"
"My trunk and branches are thick, and well... just not great."
"No, you're a perfectly magnificent tree!"
Seoran didn't know much about Five Elements Treefolk aesthetics, but she spoke honestly from her own perspective.
To human eyes, the massive spirit tree before her was plenty magnificent.
The tree giant who received the praise asked:
"Me? What makes me magnificent?"
Seoran answered immediately.
"Your trunk stands so straight and true—it's the essence of a tree!"
Hearing Seoran's response, the deeply moved Five Elements Treefolk cautiously asked:
"Really?"
"Yes!"
The Five Elements Treefolk asked once more.
"You might become a laughingstock because of me."
"That's fine, I'm a beginner too!"
For reference, Seoran's gardening experience amounted to a few days.
She had dabbled briefly for fun before the ruins were discovered.
She planned to register first and practice later.
After a moment of thought, the Five Elements Treefolk seemed resolved and said:
"Alright, let's enter the Beautiful Tree Contest together."
Seoran beamed and shouted.
"Then, shall we introduce ourselves!?"
"They call me Straight Trunk."
"I'm Ryu Seoran! Nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too."
The Five Elements Treefolk gave a small wave.
Seoran shook the placard energetically instead of waving.
On the placard was written:
'I'll make you outstanding!'
The unknown gardener and the timid tree became partners.