Chapter 74 Ultimate Difficulty

"Don't tell me yet, let me guess." Interrupting Lin Jie's words, Li Nianlong smiled slightly. "Is it that your parents agreed to let you pursue the basketball path?"

"Correct." Lin Jie giggled. "After several days of effort, I finally managed to convince them. Dad is preparing to arrange for my study abroad procedures. Soon, I'll be receiving the most professional basketball training in the United States."

"Going to the States?" Li Nianlong was taken aback. He only hoped Lin Jie would receive professional basketball training, but he hadn't thought of sending her all the way to the United States. But...

"Well, it's good." Li Nianlong patted Lin Jie's shoulder. "Professional basketball in the States is much stronger than here in China. Go for it! You're fourteen this year, I believe that in four to six years, you'll have a place in the world basketball arena."

"I hope so." Lin Jie smiled playfully, but her smile gradually faded. She scratched her face. "I just feel a bit reluctant to leave Teacher Liu."

Li Nianlong's eyes warmed, and he smiled faintly. "All good things must come to an end. When you become a world-class basketball superstar in the future, your teacher will definitely attend your games. Just remember our agreement, when I become a world-class superstar in the future, you must come watch my games."

"I won't forget." Li Nianlong raised his hand, and Lin Jie understood, giving him a high-five as a pledge.

Clap—

Satisfied, Lin Jie left. Xiang Youyou looked at Li Nianlong with a hint of envy and admiration. "Teacher Liu, to reach your level as a teacher, it's really worth it."

Li Nianlong smiled slightly. "I believe that Miss Xiang will do even better in the future."

"I dare not hope for that. If I could achieve half of what Teacher Liu has, I'd be content."

Ring—

The bell for class rang. The students of Class 3 in Grade 2 immediately lined up and gathered. Li Nianlong and Xiang Youyou stood facing the students. Li Nianlong said, "Everyone, this person next to me is Teacher Xiang. From now on, your physical education classes will be taught by Teacher Xiang. She graduated from the Sports University, and she's very nice. I hope everyone can respect Teacher Xiang like you respect me. Any questions?"

"Yes!" All the students shouted in unison.

Li Nianlong was at a loss for words. They really didn't give him face.

"Teacher Liu, if Teacher Xiang is going to teach us physical education, what about you?"

"Yeah! Teacher Liu, you can't leave! We've decided to follow you for the rest of our lives."

"We want Teacher Liu, not Teacher Xiang!"

"Right, we only recognize Teacher Liu, we don't recognize any other teachers."

Dozens of students protested loudly. Li Nianlong felt both touched and exasperated. He clapped his hands. "Stop making noise!"

The shouting gradually stopped. Li Nianlong's expression turned serious. "Look at yourselves! All feasts must come to an end. Even if I continue to be your teacher, I can only teach until next year. You will all move on to high school and different schools. Now I have something I must leave for, so listen to me!" Li Nianlong pointed to Xiang Youyou beside him. "Teacher Xiang is a good teacher. From now on, you must listen to her. If I hear you going against Teacher Xiang, I'll deal with you."

"Ugh!" Li Nianlong had said all this, knowing he couldn't change anything. These rascals could only sigh with reluctance and helplessness.

Seeing this scene, Xiang Youyou felt even more admiration for Li Nianlong.

"Teacher Xiang, say a few words." After setting the tone, Li Nianlong said to Xiang Youyou.

"Sure." Xiang Youyou nodded, looking at the students with a few traces of envy and respect. "Hello, everyone. My name is Xiang Youyou. Xiang is from the name of the Chu general Xiang Yu, and Youyou means quiet and elegant like an orchid..."

Booing—

"Teacher Xiang, your appearance really doesn't match your name."

"Quiet and elegant like an orchid, haha..."

A burst of teasing made Li Nianlong's face change, and he shouted, "Shut up! Didn't you just hear what I said?"

"No! We were just joking with Teacher Xiang!"

"Yeah, just joking. We used to joke with Teacher Liu all the time!"

These naughty kids.

Li Nianlong was both angry and amused, but Xiang Youyou remained calm and laughed. "It's okay, I'm not someone who can't take a joke. Besides, if the students start joking with me right from the beginning, it means they've accepted me. Instead of getting angry, I'm actually happy."

These words made Li Nianlong's expression slightly ease, but the kids were all rolling their eyes. Obviously, they weren't just joking around earlier.

The handover of work didn't go smoothly. In the past two days, all the classes expressed reluctance and dissatisfaction with Li Nianlong's departure and Xiang Youyou's takeover. If Li Nianlong hadn't suppressed it, these rascals would probably have gone to the principal's office to complain.

For Xiang Youyou, this wasn't a good thing for her succession. But after getting to know each other over the past two days, Xiang Youyou admired and envied Li Nianlong's popularity among the students even more. However, she was troubled by the difficulty of carrying out her work.

Li Nianlong had no solution to this. He didn't want to intervene because after two days of handing over work, he had completed his duty as a teacher and officially left the school.

...

Late at night, on the third floor of the villa.

Li Nianlong lay on the bed, his spirit entering the dream training ground of the system.

"Today, I'm going to challenge Level 20·10." Equipped and ready with supplies, Li Nianlong proposed the challenge.

The dragonfly flapped its wings, its green figure casting fluorescent light. "Welcome, host, to challenge the ultimate mode Level 20·10. In the spirit of being responsible to the host, I need to confirm once again, is the host really prepared?"

Li Nianlong snorted coldly. "If I can't even pass Level 20 of the final difficulty, what's the point of talking about revenge? Confirm!"

"Since the host has confirmed, please enter the ultimate mode Level 20·10 scene."

A gate appeared. As Li Nianlong stepped into the final scene of Level 20, he found the survival environment here incredibly harsh, beyond comparison. In the distance, a volcano spewed thick smoke, surrounded by swamps. The air was filled with the smell of sulfur and marsh gas, and the temperature was terrifyingly high. Waves of heat rushed towards Li Nianlong, causing sweat to pour out, only to evaporate instantly in the high temperature.

Li Nianlong frowned, holding his breath as he observed the environment.

The temperature was at least 70 degrees Celsius, with thin oxygen, and the air was filled with marsh gas and carbon dioxide. There were almost no living organisms present, and observing the nearby volcano, the continuous emission of hot air and thick smoke indicated the possibility of an eruption at any moment. Once the volcano erupted, Li Nianlong's location would definitely be covered by lava.

After experiencing the first nine challenges, he originally thought that even if the tenth level was difficult, he could safely pass through it. However, upon entering, he discovered that this place was like a hell where only demons could survive. The combined difficulty of the previous nine levels paled in comparison to the tenth level.

"Are you sure humans can survive here?" Li Nianlong couldn't believe it.

The dragonfly landed on his shoulder, smiling faintly. "Of course ordinary humans can't, but the host definitely can."

"I hope you're right." Li Nianlong's expression turned serious. Without further ado, he immediately began to survey the terrain around him. The first thing he needed to guard against was the volcano that could erupt at any moment. He had to find a safe zone before the eruption.

With the experience from the previous nine challenges, even though the difficulty of the tenth level suddenly increased, Li Nianlong didn't resign himself to death. After all, there would always be places where lava couldn't reach, and those places were the safe zones.

After several hours of searching, Li Nianlong finally found an inconspicuous extinct volcano among the mountains. The extinct volcano was over two hundred meters high, and there were a few plants on the mountain, although all of them were black.

For safety reasons, Li Nianlong planned to settle his home at the 75% mark on the mountainside. He fiercely wielded his pickaxe against the mountain wall, and soon formed a makeshift cave five meters deep and two meters high. However, as the cave formed, the pickaxe finally exhausted its durability, turning into a fluorescent light and disappearing.

This was the first piece of equipment Li Nianlong had used up in terms of durability, causing him to feel a myriad of emotions.

Due to the scarce oxygen in the air, after digging the cave, even though Li Nianlong had unlimited stamina, he still felt a hint of exhaustion, and his body fell into a weakened state.

Glancing at the status bar, it was just as he had expected.