The Guide to the End of the World: Four Sentinels Compete for Favor

As the last note of the ancient spell fell, the originally gentle and soothing sea breeze suddenly became stronger, the silver-threaded sails swelled, the rigging was tightened, and a muffled bang was heard.

On both sides of the boat, five pairs of wooden oars that reached below the lake surface moved automatically, with the paddles rising and falling in unison, cutting through the water surface and bringing up strings of tiny dark blue water droplets.

Ripples spread out from the side of the boat, and just when Ai Wanxin thought that the sun boat would sail into the open door of the temple, the boat suddenly shook.

As if it was twisted hard by an invisible giant hand, the whole ship turned sideways and sank into the water with a splash.

Ai Wanxin was totally unprepared and felt the world spinning around her in an instant. She reached out hastily, trying to grab something to keep her balance, but her arms and palms suddenly tightened and she was grabbed by several hands at the same time.

"Wow--"

The expected feeling of suffocation from sinking to the bottom of the lake did not come. Almost in the blink of an eye, the sun boat made a circle underwater, and the other side of the hull was lifted high. The whole boat broke through the water, bringing out a pool of turbulent water.

The lake water poured down from both sides of the boat like a waterfall. The boat swayed from side to side several times like a tumbler and soon regained its stability.

Ai Wanxin stood up, looked up, and couldn't help laughing out loud.

Her hands and arms were grabbed by Yin Yanhan, Pei Junlin, He Yang and Jing respectively. Her arms were spread out in a big letter shape and she was firmly nailed in place.

Ai Wanxin had no doubt that if they had really fallen into the water, they would not let go.

She didn't even dare to think about how she would be able to swim to shore with four people if she was really thrown off the boat...

"Sweetheart, look quickly." He Yang's surprised voice brought Ai Wanxin's attention back.

She struggled slightly, and the men slowly let go.

Yin Yanhan had originally grabbed her right hand, and when he let go, his fingertips with thin calluses slid across her palm and hooked her little finger, but he did not completely let go because of the cover of the wide cloak.

Ai Wan thought back to when Brother Han found her at the foot of the Wailing Cliffs and in the illusion of Fengge Lake. He seemed very nervous and insecure or had a little separation anxiety, so she grabbed his fingers and squeezed them hard, telling him that it was okay and that he shouldn't be nervous.

Ai Wanxin was comforting Yin Yanhan with her hands, and her eyes had already scanned the surroundings. She was really efficient.

In front of her was a glass-clear blue sea, with sunlight shining on the calm surface.

Everywhere they looked, they saw countless giant wooden boats exactly like the solar boat under their feet, scattered like sesame seeds on the vast sea.

The silver masts and sails of these wooden boats were inflated to their maximum, the long oars were rowing softly and rhythmically, the raised bows broke through the waves, and they moved silently and quickly in the same direction.

Looking far in the direction the ship is heading, you can see a huge light gray shadow.

The shadow was so huge that it connected the sky and the earth. The widest part of the shadow almost spanned the entire sky, like the legendary insurmountable end of the world.

"What is that?" Ai Wanxin asked curiously.

She just said it casually. It was everyone's first time here, so who could know?

Jing walked to the bow and looked carefully for a while, then turned back and said with a smile: "Sister, you see we are here on the sun boat that leads to the underworld. Legend has it that when the sun god is tired of fighting his mortal enemy, he will rest on a huge tree in the underworld that reaches from heaven to earth. This tree also provides shelter for souls waiting for rebirth."

"I think this is the tree of life."

He Yang said with an indescribable expression: "Legends, you don't really believe them, do you?"

Jing Yi raised his eyebrows: "Why don't you believe it? Captain He, almost all the nations in the world that you can name have stories about the World Tree or the Tree of Life in their inherited myths."

"In these legends with very different cultural backgrounds and a long time span, the Tree of Life is basically related to connecting the worlds, serving as a bridge for communication between gods and humans, or the cycle of life, regeneration and immortality."

"You can say one or two are coincidences, but how do you explain so many?"

He Yang has been a staunch materialist since he was young. His behavior includes, but is not limited to, playing in all the haunted houses in the country without any expression on his face. When his elementary school classmates organized an adventure to a haunted house, everyone was scared away by the weird atmosphere, but he stayed there alone until dawn. He has never worn any jewelry that can be regarded as a talisman since he was young, so he couldn't even find a personal token of love for Ai Wanxin...

He Yang has always believed that religious beliefs may bring some comfort and guidance to people, but most of the time, they are a tool of power, a means for one group of people to deceive and enslave another group of people by controlling their thoughts and behaviors.

Although He Yang has seen countless phenomena that are difficult to explain by science since the end of the world, if a person has formed a certain concept since childhood, even if he is not stubborn and is willing to accept new ideas, when he encounters a problem, he will subconsciously use the original theoretical system to explain it first.

So he really found it hard to accept concepts like the underworld, the tree of life, and the sun god.

Ai Wanxin's mind was not on those legends. When Jing said it was a tree, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

The shadow at the end of the field of vision looked more and more like a giant tree that blocked out the sun. Normally, it was impossible for a tree to grow so big, not to mention that they were not in a normal place.

So does this tree have anything to do with the Crown of the Starry Sky?

Ai Wanxin covered the back of her right hand which was feeling slightly hot. On the night she returned to the Academy of Sciences from the underground boxing ring, she had a dream about her past life.

She dreamed that she was taken by Klophas to a place called the Tomb of the Starry Sky, where she saw a small black stone that she later obtained from space.

Mrs. Bai looked at the stone and said in fascination, "When can I see it grow branches again?"

The Starry Sky Tomb, Madam Bai's words, and the fact that she had been able to absorb the mental power of other sentinels inexplicably since the stone entered her body, all these things combined made her have no doubt at all, that was the Starry Sky Crown.

But at that time it was only the size of a date pit, and compared with the giant tree in front of it, it was as small as a speck of dust.

Anyone who sees this giant tree and that small stone will think that this giant tree is the legendary tree of life and time.

Could it be that she was mistaken?

"Do not."

Ai Wanxin shook her head. She felt that what she thought was not wrong, and she couldn't hurt Xiao Shitou's heart.

The four of them thought she was refuting Jing's words and were waiting to hear her next words, but they didn't expect Ai Wanxin to clench her fist and slam her palm, saying firmly: "Sometimes big ones look good but are useless. Small ones are more solid and contain more energy!"