The light in Josh’s eyes slowly dimmed.

Chenyu saw this but didn’t say anything, only reminded her, "Just stay here and recover. When you’re healed, I’ll ask Yuze to pick you up. Don’t let him see your injuries, or that kid will cause trouble for me again."

Josh nodded and said nothing.

Chenyu turned and left.

Josh was left alone in the room.

She couldn’t help but sigh dejectedly. She originally thought of taking a shortcut, but now that path was blocked.

Forget it, in the end, you can only rely on yourself.

Josh quickly revived her spirits, sat cross-legged, and once she was sure Chenyu was far away, began meditating and cultivating.

The spiritual energy here was abundant. Instead of sulking, she might as well meditate and cultivate, absorbing some of the spiritual energy!

The surrounding spiritual power continuously flowed toward her direction.

The ample spiritual power almost materialized, causing the surrounding bed curtains to flutter.

Josh didn’t dare to make a whirlwind like last time. She cautiously controlled the vital acupoint, allowing her Dantian to absorb the spiritual power bit by bit, carefully controlling the rate and effect of absorption.

With abundant spiritual power, her injuries healed quickly, and her spiritual sea recovered swiftly under the nourishment of spiritual power.

The cracks on the head of the small pink-white spider were also repaired.

Josh sighed in relief, glad that everything was recoverable without any after-effects.

Seeing the crack on the spider’s head in her spiritual sea, she was indeed a bit worried and frightened before.

After a day of recuperation, fearing that Yuze might be worried, she quickly sent him a message via Smart Brain, asking him to pick her up from Layena Star.

After sending the message, she realized that more than a week had passed, and her birthday was approaching.

Which meant she was about to become an adult!

Yuze arrived quickly, and she originally wanted to say goodbye to Chenyu. But unexpectedly, he just dragged her into the car, hit the gas, and they sped away.

Josh’s mouth twitched: "Chenyu saved me. I should at least say a word of thanks, right?"

"Say what? Can’t you see he has bad intentions? I came looking for you earlier, and he lied, saying you weren’t there. Who knows what schemes he’s brewing!" Yuze said with a black face, clearly dismissive of Chenyu and not fond of him.

Josh didn’t know what to say in response.

When they returned to the Mysterious Guild, everyone was relieved to see Josh safe and sound.

Rob immediately rushed into Josh’s arms: "Where did you go? You scared me to death!"

Josh had already explained to Yuze on the way, and seeing everyone else, she had to explain again: "I got too into the instance and almost died, but Chenyu saved me. I recovered at his place and just returned."

"Chen... Chenyu Guardian God??" Rob was stunned, as were the others.

Ma Qi’s eyes widened, staring at Josh: "You mean, Chenyu Guardian God saved you?"

Josh nodded and recounted her experience in the instance and how Chenyu saved her, omitting their conversation about the instance.

Everyone listened, unable to hide their shock.

They only knew Chenyu Guardian God doted on Yuze, but never imagined the affection would extend to opening a back door for Josh!

Rob held her, rubbing wildly: "Let me sniff, let me sniff, do you still have Chenyu Guardian God’s scent on you? Ah!"

Josh laughed and pushed him away: "You’re a pervert!"

Rob pounced again.

After a bout of laughing and playing around, Ma Qi said, "Alright, it’s good everyone’s back. Rest for a few days; the team battle instance is coming up, so be ready."

"Yes, Coach!" everyone said, and then dispersed.

Ma Qi and Joyce exchanged glances and entered the meeting room together.

The meeting room was just for the two of them, and they shut the door.

Ma Qi: "I know what you’re going to say, but I still have reservations."

Joyce sighed: "You still think the god wants her dead?"

Ma Qi nodded: "My intuition has never been wrong."

Joyce replied with a smile: "But you saw it yourself; this time it was the god who saved her. Without the god, she might not have made it back at all."

Ma Qi fell silent.

Joyce patted his shoulder: "Come on, Ma Qi, my old friend, nothing’s going to happen. Josh isn’t a big shot; why would the god go to so much trouble? If he really wanted her dead, he wouldn’t have saved her; he’d just let her die in the instance. Even if she made it back, the god could easily kill her in the temple, and no one would know. Why would he let her come back?"

Ma Qi stubbornly said, "What if the god wanted to kill her in the instance but failed, and Josh survived by herself?"

Joyce’s mouth twitched: "You mean the god tried to kill her, but she survived? Then she should take the god’s position, what’s the need for a god?"

Ma Qi wanted to argue more, but Joyce cut him off: "Come on, Ma Qi, I know you really like and care about Josh. But suggesting the god wanted to kill her, and she escaped—that’s unlikely. Josh is only A-ranked in spiritual power. Sure, she can fight above her level, but she can’t surpass a god. Stop being so paranoid."

Ma Qi sighed deeply in concession: "Fine, I’ll keep watching."

Joyce patted his shoulder: "Okay, this time the singles competition eliminated nearly two-thirds. We’ve got to focus entirely on the competition."

Ma Qi nodded: "Alright."

*

The number of people eliminated in the singles was too high.

Currently, over 100 teams were left, but there weren’t many fully-staffed teams.

The complaints online grew more intense, with more people starting to attack Josh.

All because Josh was fine in that instance but suddenly exited midway.

No one knew if her sudden exit meant she died, failed, or something else.

The official announcement said she advanced, which was clearly suspicious to onlookers.

Moreover, advancing required surviving for 20 days, and she wasn’t even there for 10. How could she have advanced?

Unless Josh admitted to using a Pass Card.

The situation escalated, and everyone was waiting for an explanation from Josh and the Mysterious Guild.

But surprisingly, it was Marquis Grant who spoke up.

No one expected him to be the one to step forward.

Not even Josh and Yuze.

Grant Bin made a public statement online, claiming Josh was his son’s fiancée. His explanation for her exit was that she used a Pass Card to leave temporarily for an engagement party.

The five-member team and their coach watched this news in the living room.

Josh was bewildered by his video statement.

Ma Qi and Joyce exchanged confused looks: "Josh, when did you get engaged to Xue Guo?"

Rob shivered: "Josh, did you cheat? What about the captain?"

Yuze jumped up: "I’m going to shoot that old fart who’s spouting nonsense!"

"Calm down!" Joyce and Ma Qi quickly restrained him, knowing this troublemaker might actually carry out the threat!