Han Yu felt pleased with his act and casually walked back to his hideout.
'Just as I thought, they didn't think to look in the Eastern Section. It's not like they have that many people anyway,' Han Yu thought to himself.
He wasn't wary of Peng Gu finding him anymore. After all, the man still needed to focus on his own work. He wasn't an unemployed loser with time to go around looking for someone who had stolen his money. It was even likely that he wouldn't tell others about the loss, as it would be far too embarrassing.
Not only had he lost all his money to Han Yu, but he had also failed to capture a boy who was merely at the Sixth Stage of the Body Tempering Realm while being a Qi Refining Realm cultivator.
If he admitted it, he would easily become a laughingstock.
Han Yu lifted the planks blocking the window of an old abandoned house and jumped in before sealing it again.
This was his hideout, one of the many abandoned buildings in the Eastern Section.
This was the most impoverished area in the town, and many of the buildings here were in disrepair. Only the parts near the center were worth anything decent and remained occupied.
"Phew~ It's good that they haven't begun the redevelopment yet, or I might not have a place to stay anymore." Han Yu thanked his luck as he lay down on a bed.
The house had pretty much everything one might need to live frugally, and it was a waste to let it stay empty, so Han Yu had occupied it. Of course, it wasn't exactly legal, but as long as the authorities didn't know, it didn't matter. It wasn't like they had any immediate use for it anyway.
'Though the income has gone down in the last six months... more people have gone away for war,' Han Yu thought to himself.
It had been a problem for him, as he found himself lacking resources. A war had been raging in the Yuran Kingdom for nearly five years now, and many of their resources were being dedicated to it. Both soldiers of the kingdom and independent cultivators were involved, causing the demand for cultivation resources to skyrocket.
This led to prices becoming more expensive, making it harder for Han Yu to afford them.
Of course, he didn't buy anything major like alchemical pills or herbs; he merely bought some beast meat. But even then, the prices had increased. They had steadily risen by ten percent every year, making them about fifty percent higher than their original price.
Han Yu had been training since he was ten years old and had finally reached his current level by the age of fifteen.
'I need to reach the Eighth Stage of the Body Tempering Realm before I turn sixteen to qualify for the sects,' Han Yu thought to himself.
The Body Tempering Realm was divided into four tiers: low, mid, high, and peak.
The low tier consisted of the first to fourth stages and tempered one's muscles. The mid-tier consisted of the fifth to seventh stages and tempered one's skin. The high tier consisted of the eighth to tenth stages and tempered one's blood vessels.
Finally, the eleventh to thirteenth stages tempered one's bones and represented the peak of the Body Tempering Realm.
To become a true cultivator and enter the Qi Refining Realm, one needed to reach at least the Eighth Stage of the Body Tempering Realm as a bare minimum.
Of course, if one could reach a higher stage, it would be even better, but cultivation sects started recruiting people at the Eighth Stage.
If one was lucky enough to join, they could train further and finally receive a suitable cultivation technique.
This didn't mean that only the cultivation sects had cultivation techniques. In fact, common cultivation techniques could be found even in the very town where Han Yu lived. However, their quality wasn't good, and they required a lot of effort to cultivate.
Not to mention, practitioners of those techniques would often hit bottlenecks and become stagnant. Changing one's cultivation technique was also not easy, as they often had to abolish their cultivation base to do so.
Not many had the heart to abandon years, if not decades, of their effort.
Age was another factor in cultivating. For people who were already older, abandoning their progress would not benefit them, as they might not do better than with their previous technique.
This was why someone like Peng Gu would never be taken in by a sect. The man might have reached the First Stage of the Qi Refining Realm, but he was already in his thirties. He was far too old for a sect to ever consider him.
As such, he was forever limited to being an itinerant cultivator.
Han Yu didn't want to be limited to such a life, though. He wished to gain the power and riches that came with becoming a cultivator, and the best way to do that was to join a sect.
It was the most reliable path for growth, and everyone yearned to do the same.
Thinking of all this, Han Yu took a deep breath and strengthened his resolve.
"If I want to do that, I need money... a lot more money," Han Yu said to himself, a look of seriousness on his face.
"Just a few more months, and I should have enough... after all, I have my trump card." Han Yu said as he touched his pocket.
But as soon as he did, his eyes went wide.
"MY MAGIC STONE! MY MONEY MAKER! WHERE DID IT GO!?" Han Yu looked down and all he saw was a torn pocket.
He rummaged through his robes as if hoping for a miracle but couldn't find it anywhere. His heart fell to his stomach and he finally accepted the reality.
"I lost it..." Han Yu muttered to himself.
Fortunately for him, he had a good idea where he had lost it. But unfortunately it was also the place he had made a note to never go back to.