Hunter 106: Passive Enhancement 

After leaving the trial Hall, Lin Jiu arrived at the Skill Enhancement Hall, specifically heading to the Passive Skill Enhancement area. He entered a skill upgrade chamber, and as the door closed, a virtual screen appeared before him.

[Please select the skill you wish to upgrade.]

Lin Jiu only had two skills that could be upgraded here: [Focus Energy] and [Fighter's Heart]. The others required Soul Crystals. Since he had already maxed out [Focus Energy] last time, he directly chose to upgrade [Fighter's Heart].

[Upgrading the passive skill (Fighter's Heart Lv.1) requires 1,500 Paradise Coins. Confirm payment? Yes/No.]

"Upgrade."

As the 1,500 Paradise Coins were consumed, Lin Jiu felt an invisible heart beating within him. The presence of this heart seemed to ignite his fighting spirit. Countless scenes of failure and death flashed before his eyes, yet his determination remained unwavering!

What didn't kill him, and even what did, only made his will stronger!

Lin Jiu continued upgrading [Fighter's Heart], and the feeling of unyielding resilience, a sense of growing stronger through battle, returned.

[Fighter's Heart (Passive Skill) has been upgraded to Lv.3.]

[Fighter's Heart (Passive Skill) has been upgraded to Lv.4.]

[Fighter's Heart (Passive Skill) has been upgraded to Lv.5.]

When it reached level 5, a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.

[Your skill (Fighter's Heart) has been upgraded to Lv.5. Upon reaching Lv.5, you may choose one additional reward from the options below:]

[Slight increase in perception.]

[Small chance to trigger Berserk Mode when HP is below 20%.

Berserk Mode: Strength +5 (duration: 3 minutes).]

[Increase Willpower by 5 points.]

Without hesitation, Lin Jiu chose the third option. Every opportunity to increase hidden attributes had to be treasured.

[Since Fighter's Heart (Passive Skill) has reached Lv.5, the upgrade cost has increased to 3,000 Paradise Coins.]

Although the cost was steep, it was a necessary investment. Lin Jiu did not hesitate to spend his Paradise Coins.

[Fighter's Heart (Passive Skill) has been upgraded to Lv.10!]

[Fighter's Heart (Passive Skill) has reached the maximum level. Upon reaching the max level, you may choose one additional reward from the options below:]

[Significant increase in perception.]

[Small chance to trigger Berserk Mode when HP is below 20%.

Berserk Mode: Strength +7 (duration: 3 minutes).]

[Increase Willpower by 10 points.]

[[Increase melee damage by 3%.]

Since there were other opportunities to enhance melee damage, Lin Jiu chose to increase his Willpower again. Upon reaching Lv.10, the values of [Fighter's Heart] saw a dramatic improvement.

[Fighter's Heart: Lv.Max (Passive Skill)]

Effect 1: Increase melee damage by 10%, and increase perception by 20%.

Effect 2: Willpower +15.

The max-level [Fighter's Heart] was equivalent to a 5-level increase in Swordsmanship Specialization. It also provided an additional 20% boost in perception.

When Lin Jiu stepped out of the skill upgrade chamber, he immediately sensed the world outside differently. Closing his eyes, the surrounding environment was simulated in his mind—footsteps, the chatter of passing contractors—all amplified in his brain.

Spending 21,000 Paradise Coins to upgrade [Fighter's Heart] resulted in a massive enhancement for Lin Jiu. Even though his Swordsmanship Specialization hadn't yet reached level 10 and lacked derived abilities, his melee damage had already surpassed a level 10 boost.

Lin Jiu then made his way to the Equipment Enhancement Hall to upgrade his [Black Scout]. As for the [Hamster's Treasure] belt, its primary function was to store recovery items, so upgrading it wasn't particularly urgent. On the way, Lin Jiu casually bought a necklace chain to manually repair the [Aja Red Stone Necklace].

[Aja Red Stone Necklace]

Origin: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

Quality: Blue

Type: Necklace

Durability: 44/50

Equip Requirement: 15 Intelligence.

Effect: Sunshine Blessing. Increases the power of light-based attacks by 50%.

Additional Attribute: Increases Ripple Energy by 100%.

Rating: 70

Description: A necklace made from a rare, naturally occurring gemstone that reflects light billions of times within its crystalline structure. This unique property allows it to radiate intense energy, showcasing the wondrous forces of nature.

Price: 5,600 Paradise Coins.

Once a suitable Reincarnation Avatar for joining the Sun Church Paradise appears, Lin Jiu could pass on both the Aja Red Stone Necklace and the Sunlight Hamon Breathing Technique to that avatar.

Lin Jiu, familiar with the process, entered the Equipment Enhancement Hall and found an available machine.

[Remaining Paradise Coins: 89,104. Please place the equipment you wish to enhance.]

Steam hissed from the sides of the equipment enhancement machine as a heavy metal tray emerged. Lin Jiu placed [Black Scout] onto the tray.

[Equipment scanning… scan complete. Enhancement cost per attempt: 1,100 Paradise Coins.]

[Enhancement starting, please wait for five minutes…]

The equipment enhancement machine roared to life, its inner workings producing a cacophony of noise, occasionally punctuated by the crackle of electricity. Five minutes passed in a flash!

Enhancing equipment right after opening a treasure chest was an unwise choice, especially after obtaining something valuable from the chest.

It took Lin Jiu a whopping 22,000 Paradise Coins to enhance a single piece of green-grade equipment to +6.

[Black Scout +6]

Origin: Reincarnation Paradise - Gear House

Quality: Green

Type: Recon Equipment

Durability: 30/30

Equip Requirement: 7 Intelligence, 8 Agility.

Effect: Night Vision (Active): Allows detection of a target and retrieves their data. The completeness of the data depends on the comparison of Intelligence and Agility attributes between the user and the target (Attribute Check +3).

Note: Night Vision (Active) consumes 25 Mana per use.

Note: Night Vision (Active) has a cooldown of 30 minutes (reduced by 30 minutes).

Rating: 25

Description: I am the eye! I watch the enemy in the night!

Price: 2,500 Paradise Coins.

Lin Jiu decided not to enhance the [Aja Red Stone Necklace] for now, feeling that his luck had been poor lately. After leaving the Equipment Enhancement Hall, he headed to the Arena. His previous ranking had stalled at around 6,000th, though he estimated his actual strength to be around the top 1,000.

Now, he believed his strength could place him among the top few hundred in his tier. With one more derived world under his belt, he could start vying for the title of Arena King.

[Match found. Due to the Hunter's 18-win streak, the Arena has matched the Hunter with an opponent ranked 3,679th in Tier 1.]

The sensation of being teleported took hold, and two figures appeared within the barrier. The audience seats already had quite a few spectators for a match at this rank.

Lin Jiu quickly assessed his opponent: a half-cybernetic contractor, somewhat reminiscent of Stroheim, but with Reincarnation Paradise's far more advanced technology enhancing him.

"Close combat, huh? I hope this fight doesn't end too quickly!"

The half-cybernetic male contractor sneered at Lin Jiu with what he considered a menacing grin.

Lin Jiu merely smiled in response, knowing that his opponent's hopes were likely to be dashed.

[Three, two, one—Match begins!]