Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Dancing with Trees (3)
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A beauty tree contest held once every hundred years.
The participants gathered from all across the surface layer of the Great Spirit Forest.
Taibon Valley, where the beauty tree contest was taking place, was abuzz with Five Elements Treefolk and gardeners.
The preliminary rounds were scheduled to run for ten days.
The top five would advance to the finals.
Simply put, one per two days.
To leave no regrets behind, the participants unleashed everything they had cultivated up to now.
On the seventh day of the preliminaries, Seoran, who had entered as a gardener, watched the spectacle from backstage.
“Amazing...”
A beauty tree contest to select the most beautiful tree.
The Five Elements Treefolk who participated in this kind of event were brimming with confidence in their own appearances to begin with.
And strong self-assurance often served as the driving force toward greater achievements.
The beauty tree contest participants had all devoted their lives to this moment, polishing their bark until it shone.
Practicing martial dances or cultivating their beauty—none of it was easy or comfortable.
There were no half-hearted resolutions like “Should I give it a try?”
They had staked their lives on this stage today.
Pouring one’s entire life into a single goal was asceticism.
Only true ascetics could radiate such beauty.
It was a brilliant hue born from burning one’s life away.
In that moment, Seoran realized.
They burned their lives to shine like the sun—hence, Sun Beauty Tree.
They shone like the moon—hence, Moon Beauty Tree.
They shone like stars—hence, Star Beauty Tree.
The names of the beauty tree contest awards, likened to celestial bodies beyond the night sky, carried that meaning.
The turn of a participant radiating dazzling brilliance came to an end.
Having burned everything without leaving even a handful of energy behind, the participant collapsed from exhaustion the moment they stepped off the stage.
And immediately, the next participant took the stage.
It was an overwhelming sight that sent chills racing across the skin just from watching.
Seoran couldn’t watch any longer and returned to the waiting room.
A private waiting room shaped like a pillar, with curtains drawn.
Pushing aside the thick fabric, she saw the straight trunk.
Seoran asked in a deliberately calm expression and tone.
“Straight Trunk, is your condition any better?”
Straight Trunk replied.
“I was a bit tired from a restless night, but I’m okay now.”
“That’s a relief. Our turn is coming up soon. How’s the headpiece? It won’t get in the way during the dance, right? I can still adjust it a bit now if needed.”
“This is fine. You stayed up all night refining it for me, Gardener. Wearing this ornament makes me feel your meticulous care.”
“Good, then how’s your energy? I brought some fertile soil and nutrients. Want to root yourself in it for a bit?”
“No, I feel just right like this. Thank you.”
Seoran didn’t press further.
She could tell without being told.
Right now, she was extremely tense.
Straight Trunk repeated the same phrase inwardly.
‘Don’t look at the ground. Keep your body straight. Have confidence. Don’t look at the ground. Keep your body straight. Have confidence.’
But her branch tips still trembled.
It felt like all the sap in her body was drying up tight.
And Straight Trunk’s turn was right upon her.
From beyond the curtain, a staff member called.
“Participant number 302, please wait backstage.”
Straight Trunk made her way backstage along the path.
From here on, even the gardener couldn’t assist her.
The mind-shaking tension reached its peak.
Her gaze naturally drooped downward, and the heavy ornaments weighed her down.
Even her ironclad resolve began to crack.
She couldn’t even remember the dance moves she had practiced to death.
Straight Trunk’s turn came.
She barely managed to step onto the stage, but that was it.
She was no longer in any state to dance.
The pre-requested accompaniment began to play.
‘This won’t do! At least, without shame...’
Straight Trunk gathered her crumbled courage.
And she barely lifted her gaze from the ground.
Thanks to that, she spotted it.
Far away in the audience seats, Burning Branch was sitting there.
In that extremely brief instant, countless thoughts flashed through her.
‘Why is she here? What about her own preliminaries?’
‘Ah, our preliminary dates are different, right?’
‘Still, why for the wood attribute preliminaries?’
Straight Trunk quickly pulled herself together.
She didn’t know the reason, but Burning Branch was here.
She couldn’t show an unsightly figure before the object of her lifelong admiration.
Because she was Straight Trunk’s sun.
The phrase she kept repeating.
‘Don’t look at the ground. Keep your body straight. Have confidence.’
Proud gaze, upright posture, and self-assurance.
Straight Trunk soon forgot herself.
And she burned herself to shine.
A brilliance so bright it wasn’t overshadowed even by moonlight.
*****
Seoran’s styling direction was simple.
A thick trunk and branches were equivalent to a physical advantage.
In fact, Straight Trunk possessed excellent athleticism despite her above-average height.
So, emphasize that aspect front and center.
First, Seoran pruned Straight Trunk’s side branches.
She tidied up the bushy branches neatly, then wove the rest upward around the stone pillar centerpiece.
Long, upward-surging leaves and branches topped with a carved stone nest and bird-headed statue.
The Millennium Five Elements Wood judges felt a tremendous sense of innovation from Straight Trunk’s unique styling.
Her already above-average height was made even taller by the branches woven up with stone ornaments.
And since ancient times, great height had symbolized extraordinariness.
Straight Trunk looked like a goddess descended to earth.
Her powerful dance moves also captivated the eyes.
With every motion of her large, elongated trunk and branches, the bundled decorative cloths fluttered in a riot of colors.
Despite the weight of ornaments that would have thrown others off balance long ago, her movements never wavered.
A dazzling appearance hidden within shyness.
Avant-garde styling that showcased the gardener’s aesthetic sense.
Basic dance foundations practiced until her roots rotted.
And the aspiration to stand beside her admired sun.
She burned her entire self and stepped down from the stage.
In a state of exhaustion, Straight Trunk looked toward the audience seats.
Burning Branch was clapping like everyone else.
The seventh day of preliminaries ended.
Seoran and Straight Trunk went back and slept like the dead.
Time passed, and the remaining preliminary schedule concluded.
Preliminary participant Straight Trunk advanced to the finals.
She had survived the brutal competition rate.
Her final ranking in the wood attribute preliminaries was first place.
Seoran was truly delighted.
“See, I told you—you’re beautiful! Straight Trunk, you’re the most beautiful tree among the wood spirit treefolk who entered this year! First in preliminaries—such a great start! Let’s keep this up in the finals! All the way to first, to Sun Beauty Tree!”
Seoran spoke as if first place was already in the bag.
For reference, the higher Straight Trunk ranked in the beauty tree contest finals, the greater Seoran’s gains.
There was only one Millennium Five Elements Wood awarded to third place, but second place received three of different attributes each.
If she became Sun Beauty Tree, Seoran could get all five types of Millennium Five Elements Wood.
Seoran dreamed of a transformation-fusion colossal puppet made from fire-water-wood-metal-earth five-attribute Millennium Five Elements Wood.
Of course, Seoran’s wish did not come true.
*****
Twenty-five Five Elements Treefolk showcased astonishing stages.
A beautiful spectacle impossible to look away from even for a moment.
The Millennium Five Elements Wood judges, combining beauty scores and dance scores, announced the final rankings of the beauty tree contest.
Straight Trunk placed third.
“Wood spirit treefolk, Straight Trunk. Third place, Star Beauty Tree!”
The audience cheered fervently.
“Congratulations on the birth of a new Star Beauty Tree!”
Only Seoran, whose dreams had shattered, muttered to herself.
“Huh, first place? Where’s my fire-water-wood-metal-earth Millennium Five Elements Wood?”
Regardless, the contest proceedings continued.
“Water spirit treefolk, Flowing Leaves. Second place, Moon Beauty Tree!”
First place was the same as the previous contest.
“Fire spirit treefolk, Burning Branch. First place, Sun Beauty Tree!”
The contest’s final procedure, the award ceremony, began.
Moon Beauty Tree and Star Beauty Tree flanking Sun Beauty Tree at the center.
Plaques engraved with honorable titles were presented.
While waving to the ecstatic audience, Burning Branch beside her murmured softly.
“Your posture is still so straight.”
A voice small enough to reach only the neighbor.
But Straight Trunk clearly heard it.
An immense shiver raced along her trunk and branches.
‘She remembered that day. It wasn’t just polite words. She truly believed that.’
With a trembling voice, Straight Trunk asked.
“Did I become the star you saw back then?”
“No.”
To Straight Trunk, shocked by the answer, Burning Branch laughed refreshingly, just like in their childhood, and added.
“You shone like the sun.”
The beauty tree contest ended.
*****
The day after the beauty tree contest.
Seoran quickly recovered her energy.
Thanks to her excellent resilience.
Becoming third-place Star Beauty Tree was a miracle to begin with.
So she no longer felt regret and enjoyed the present.
Seoran hugged the Millennium Earth Spirit Wood with her whole body.
The wood was certainly lumber, yet soft like clay.
Her earth spirit root in her middle dantian resonated with the Millennium Earth Spirit Wood.
To Seoran, who was excessively immersed in the dense earth spirit energy of the Millennium Earth Spirit Wood, Straight Trunk asked.
“Tomorrow is the men’s division beauty tree contest finals. Want to go watch together? Burning Branch too.”
“I don’t think I can. I have somewhere I need to go.”
“Where?”
Seoran said, her face flushed beet red from being pressed flat.
“I’m going home.”
“So suddenly?”
“Yeah, my trip’s been too long already... If I stay longer, I’ll get too attached and it’ll be hard to leave.”
Straight Trunk fell silent for a moment, then said.
“I see. Thank you so much for everything. If not for you, Gardener, I never would have changed.”
“I’m the one who’s grateful—I even got Millennium Earth Spirit Wood.”
Despite their vast difference in size, Seoran and Straight Trunk carefully embraced each other.
“Will we meet again someday?”
Seoran replied.
“Who knows, maybe far in the future?”
“Five Elements Treefolk live for thousands of years. I’ll keep waiting, so we’ll definitely meet again.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
With their half-year bond at an end, Seoran and Straight Trunk parted.
A truly beautiful friendship transcending species.
A truly splendid sight.
Of course, the Five Elements Treefolk guests who came looking for “the new gardener Ryu Seoran, who made waves with her avant-garde yet beautiful pruning and styling skills, debuting anonymously in the beauty tree contest and birthing a Star Beauty Tree” were left bewildered.
“No, what is this...”
In front of the shabby storefront stood a single signboard.
‘Gardener Ryu Seoran closes shop as of today.’
When the tide was rushing in, the ferryman didn’t row but leaped straight off the boat.
A truly impressive exit.