When Celeste woke up in a warmth, she instinctively looked at her bracelet.
The time on the screen made her pause slightly.
It was already the morning of the second day since entering the Domain.
They had actually slept for nearly ten hours in this slumber.
The surrounding warning rune stones were as quiet as before, with no signs of having been triggered.
Beside her, Selene also stirred, rubbing her eyes, her voice still filled with the grogginess of just waking up: "Sister... what time is it?"
Her gaze focused on the bracelet, and the next second, she exclaimed.
"Ah! It's already daylight?!"
Just then, the steady footsteps of the Stone Beard Earth Spirit approached from afar.
It held a shield and a longsword in its hands, the new equipment tailor-made for Selene.
"How did you rest?" Shi Xu's voice was slow and clear. "Your equipment is finished."
The two sisters' sleepiness was instantly dispelled by these words.
Selene practically sprang up with a "whoosh," her eyes shining as she stared at the two pieces of equipment that exuded a restrained luster.
The shield was larger than her previous standard kite shield, with a deep, dark silver color throughout, as if it were unpolished star-iron.
In the center of the shield, a polished white flint formed a sacred emblem, emitting a light as soft as Milk.
The lines of the entire shield were sturdy and smooth; just looking at it gave one a sense that nothing could shake it.
The longsword was simpler, with a straight blade that gleamed with the same dull metallic luster as the shield. Only along the spine of the sword did a milky-white halo flow like moonlight, echoing the white flint in the center of the shield.
"Try it out." Shi Xu handed over the sword and shield.
Selene took them excitedly.
As the shield entered her hand, an unimaginable sense of steadiness traveled from her arm straight to her heart. The weight was just right, as if it were an extension of her arm.
She tried to channel Holy Light into it.
Hum!
The entire shield suddenly lit up with a solid and heavy platinum halo!
The Holy Light surged wildly through the mithril patterns inside the shield, and that unprecedented feeling of fluidity caused her DEF to skyrocket out of nowhere!
[immovable mountain]
[Type: Knight Shield]
[Description: Forged by Earth Spirit craftsmen with a black obsidian core as the main body, the shield heart is inlaid with white flint nurtured by the earth veins. The shield body is heavy, with patterns like overlapping mountains; holding it is like standing and supporting a mountain.]
[Characteristics: Ultimate Defense, Holy Light Affinity, Tough and Durable.]
[Note: Mountains may weather away, but the faith guarded by the wielder of this shield will not. Of course, when necessary, you can also use it for "physical persuasion."]
She swung the longsword again.
The blade cut through the air, and the milky-white halo flowed along with it. Attaching Holy Light to it became incredibly easy, and even the consumption was reduced significantly.
[light of dawn]
[Type: Knight Sword]
[Description: A straight blade cast from a black obsidian core and white flint, with a natural halo flowing along the spine of the sword. When swung, it is like the dawn light tearing through the darkness.]
[Characteristics: Banishing Evil and Slaying Wickedness, Holy Light Conduction, Faith Protection.]
[Note: May your faith be as pure as the sword light. Note: It is very sharp—don't ask me how I know.]
"This is amazing!"
Selene couldn't put it down, her face overflowing with pure joy.
"Thank you, Elder Shi Xu! This is even better than I imagined!"
She could clearly feel that this set of sword and shield not only had excellent materials, but more importantly, it had an innate affinity with the power of Holy Light, enough to take her strength to the next level.
Celeste was also happy for her sister.
With this new equipment, her sister's defense and auxiliary attack capabilities would be stronger, and their team's survival guarantee would also skyrocket.
"As long as it fits, that is good." Shi Xu nodded. "Are you leaving now?"
"Yes, Elder Shi Xu. We still need to continue the Domain trial." Celeste replied, then asked, "May I ask, how do we leave the 'Hall of Cornerstones'?"
The Stone Beard Earth Spirit pointed toward the direction of the huge cave hall they had passed through when they arrived.
"Follow the path you came from back to the stone hall occupied by the green-skins. On the east rock wall of the stone hall, there is an inconspicuous stone door engraved with the'Spiral Return Pattern.' That is the 'Gate of Boundary Scars' that leads to the outside forest.
Those green-skins enter and exit through this door, cutting off our connection with the outside world."
The two sisters realized; so the exit was in the goblin nest. No wonder the Earth Spirits were trapped here before.
The two said goodbye to the Stone Beard Earth Spirit and the other Earth Spirits and troglodytes again, thanking them for their help and hospitality.
They returned along the tidy passage they had come from and entered the huge natural cave hall that had once gathered a large number of goblin guards.
Following Shi Xu's guidance, they searched carefully on the east rock wall of the cave hall and indeed found a stone door that was almost integrated with the rock wall, with light blue spiral patterns carved on the surface.
If one were not specifically looking for it, it would be very easy to overlook.
The two pushed open this "Gate of Boundary Scars" together, and a familiar feeling of slight dizziness and spatial distortion came over them.
The scene before their eyes suddenly changed.
The scent of damp forest trees rushed toward them—they were already standing at the entrance of that crooked goblin wooden "castle"!
Looking back, behind them were rough log walls and broken wooden boards nailed together haphazardly; there was no stone door to be seen.
"So the goblins built the portal exit inside their 'castle'..."
Selene realized suddenly, "No wonder they could enter and exit freely, but kept the Earth Spirits trapped inside."
Celeste nodded; this made sense.
The goblins controlled both ends of the portal, naturally sealing off the Earth Spirits' way out.
"It feels like I had a long and strange dream..." Selene tightened her grip on the brand-new shield in her hand, feeling that heavy sense of reassurance, and sighed.
Celeste also took a breath of the not-so-fresh air in the dense forest and nodded.
"Let's go, the trial is still continuing."
"Right now, we are in perfect condition."
With new equipment, sufficient rest, and the harvest in their pockets, The two sisters' confidence increased greatly, and they stepped into the depths of the dark forest again.
Traveling upstream along the babbling forest stream, the morning mist had not yet completely dispersed, and sunlight shone through the interlacing branches and leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on the pebble-covered riverbank.
The air was mixed with the fresh scent of soil, river water, and plants.
Celeste took a deep breath, then showed an expression of relief—that lingering, ghostly scent of strawberry and jasmine mixed with chemicals had finally been completely dispelled!
"Thank goodness..." She muttered softly, "If I keep smelling that, my sense of smell is going to get PTSD."
She secretly made up her mind to level up to level 22 as soon as possible—Priests can learn [Cleansing Spell] at level 22.
Although the skill description says "dispels negative status effects from the body," Celeste stubbornly believed that since it is called "Cleansing Spell," it must be able to clean the body!
Sweat stains, dust, strange spray residues—all of it swept away!
This logic is simply impeccable!
"Sister, isn't [Cleansing Spell] used to remove negative status effects like poisoning and paralysis?" Selene, who was next to her, heard her muttering and couldn't help but retort, "Are you going to use it for bathing?"
Celeste looked matter-of-fact: "The skill name is 'Cleansing,' so isn't taking care of personal hygiene only natural? Otherwise, why wouldn't they call it 'Dispelling Spell' or 'Purification Spell'? This shows that the skill designer considered the personal cleanliness issues of adventurers from the very beginning! It must be like that!"
Selene: "..."
Sister, what you said makes so much sense, I am speechless.