In fact, according to Earth's standards, the average level of beauty and handsomeness among people here has already risen by a notch. But even so, even in a materially abundant society, truly beautiful women are still a rare resource.

Sean Foster gave a faint smile. He noticed her gaze lift from the supervisor's desk and sweep over the crowd below.

Their eyes met. Olivia Harris glanced indifferently at Sean Foster. To be honest, she really hadn't paid much attention to him. Maybe Sean Foster was somewhat handsome, but at this level, it still wasn't enough to move her.

They exchanged a very calm, formal look, and then, as the exam began, it ended. On the computer, the test questions appeared. Sean Foster collected his thoughts and began to answer.

These second-level exams were extremely easy for him. He finished them in no time, checked his answers once, pressed the button to end the exam, then nodded at Olivia Harris, who was supervising above, and got up to leave.

Olivia Harris was a little surprised. Her clear black-and-white eyes looked at him, then she just smiled without saying much. Sean Foster felt a bit regretful. He walked out the door, shaking his head with a wry smile.

Olivia Harris was not a hothouse flower; winning her over was not so easy. But it didn't matter—he still had many things to do. In the past few days, he had been taking one exam a day, almost nonstop, until all the second-level courses were finished, and he even took a few third-level courses.

A man must have strength to be truly attractive!

Sean Foster thought silently to himself. In the end, he took one last deep look back, then left directly.

Chapter 6: Merit Task (Part 1)

Sean Foster entered his own virtual space, still a stone house.

As soon as he reached the glowing orb in the room, Sean Foster said, "Fill in the information."

"The information is ready."

"Second-level mathematics, third-level mathematics, second-level history, basic social economics, basic social politics, second-level physics, second-level language, second-level classical Chinese, second-level English."

"Information connection system has verified and input. Congratulations, Gourd Player, you have received 1,500 basic points. You have acquired third-level skills and gained an extra 500 points. Half-plane upgrade permitted. Please check carefully."

"Congratulations, Gourd Player. The innate Gourd Lodge you established is currently ranked 43,538,555 in the Huaxia region. From now on, you can post and receive task information."

Currently, the number of personal network planes in the Huaxia region is enough for a hundred million, but reaching the third level is already considered intermediate—just like the college entrance exam on Earth, where every extra point can jump you up ten thousand ranks.

Of course, it gets even harder to rise later on. After reading through, he found that his credit score was still zero.

At present, he had 3,310 points. For many people, these points could be converted into virtual enjoyment. For those addicted to games, they could even be used as game currency. But for Sean Foster, who didn't play games, these were only used to improve his own half-plane.

Reaching this level, he could use points to create his ideal home. Back on Earth, Sean Foster had once wanted to build a garden villa—he never expected to realize it here.

So, he searched online for suitable pictures and architectural structures. Some even required a few points to purchase, but they were all cheap, costing just a dozen or a few dozen points.

After some thought, he designed it so that a hundred different flowering trees would be planted outside, spending 1,000 points. These virtual plane flowering trees stood tall, covered in golden blossoms, instantly filling the air with fragrance. He spent another 300 points to build a bamboo grove, and 500 points to create a hill, drawing a stream down from it.

He carefully selected a small building—snow-white and delicate, faintly nestled within. Pushing open the door, he entered a spacious hall. The indoor lighting was just right—soft and comfortable.

Stepping out onto the balcony, he saw that it was drizzling in reality, and in the half-plane, it was also raining lightly. Mist rose, the stream flowed down the hill, fragrance floated in the air, the flowering trees dotted the rain, and the gourd vines were lush and green.

Although anyone with points could build in their half-plane now, the arrangement still showed each person's care, skill, and cultural depth.

Except for the living room, the other rooms were relatively small. Gentle milky-white beams of light shone down from the ceiling. Sean Foster was very satisfied. Stretching lazily, he thought this was already big enough.

This time, having passed all the exams, he had basically secured all the fundamentals and could choose a specialty to truly upgrade his skill tree.

Sean Foster's choice was the "Huaxia Cultural Studies" skill tree.

This subject was essentially the same as being a cultured person on Earth, but it was all-encompassing, easy to learn but hard to master, and truly fundamental—the core of the basics. The time and effort required were, of course, very long. Fortunately, the family of this body, while not extremely wealthy, was well-off enough to be worry-free for generations, so he could spend his whole life studying if he wished.

Sean Foster contacted a new mentor, opened up teaching permissions, and obtained the basic subjects, which were distributed one by one in the virtual study.

Currently, there were two courses: one was fourth-level mathematics, and the other was third-level English. Both were subjects he already had a foundation in from Earth, so he could just take the exams without spending much time on them.