Terms
Assorted Terms
大哥( da ge): eldest brother
哥 (ge): brother, could be used as a suffix onto a person’s name. Or as “Hey, bro!”
人妖 (renyao): Hong Kong slang for Thailand transvestites. It was then adopted as internet slang for males that used female avatars in MMORPGs. It’s also used to describe “girliness” in boys. The literal meaning is human-spirit. In this case here, Pu is really a yao, and he does look androgynous.
爷 (ye): means grandfather. At the same time, it can be a way of referring to oneself in third person, usually in an egotistical manner.
Relationship Appellations
Used for females:
Shijie: refers to female disciples older / higher ranked than speaker
Shimei: refers to female disciples younger / lower ranked than speaker
Used for males:
Shixong: refers to male disciples older / higher ranked than speaker
Shidi: refers to male disciples younger / lower ranked than speaker
Older Generation
Shibo: refers to disciple of previous generation older / higher ranked than speaker’s elder
Shishu: refers to disciple of previous generation younger / lower ranked than speaker’s elder
Cultivation Terms
丹(dan): pill, pellet. Common used as “pills of immortality” by Chinese emperors in search of eternal life. A gaming equivalent would be potions.
法诀 (fa jue): spells are a general term.
界(jie): scope, kingdom.
境(jing): means border, place, boundary, territory. In this novel, jing is a collection of jie which are under the jurisdiction of one power.
离(li): One of the Eight Trigrams, li represents fire
灵(ling): meaning spirit.
晶石(jingshi): crystal rock. A kind of currency.
禁制(jinzhi): restriction. An energy construct in this world.
散人(sanren): title for a roaming xiu.
仙人(xianren): it usually means Daoist immortal in common usage. Used here as title of respect and power similar to “General” or “Governor.”
修者(xiuzhe): those who cultivate. 修 (xiu): shortened form for xiuzhe
妖魔(yaomo): yao and mo are two different things. Yao could be considered equivalent to spirits, and mo to demons. They are put together as yaomo because they are both enemies of xiuzhe but they aren’t one entity.
阳(yang): masculine, positive
阴(yin): feminine, negative, shady
真人 (zhenren): spiritual master in Daoist usage.
Measurement
(Taken from the wikipedia page on Chinese Units of Measurement)
Length units
| Pinyin | Character | Metric value | Imperial value | Notes |
| cùn | 市寸 | 3 ⅓ cm | ~1.312 in | Chinese inch |
| chǐ | 市尺 | 33⅓ cm | ~1.094 ft | Chinese foot |
| zhàng | 市丈 | 3 ⅓ m | ~3.645 yd | |
| yǐn | 仞 | 33⅓ m | ~36.45 yd | |
| lǐ | 市里 | 500 m | ~546.8 yd | This li is not the small li above, which has a different character and tone |
Mass units
| Pinyin | Character | Metric value | Imperial value | Notes |
| liǎng | 兩 | 37.301 g | tael or Chinese ounce | |
| jīn | 斤 | 596.816 g | catty or Chinese pound |
Area Units
| Pinyin | Character | Metric value | Imperial value | Notes |
| mǔ | 畝 (T) or 亩 (S) | 666 2⁄3m² | ~797.3 sq yds, or ~0.1647 acre | 60 zhang² |
Cultivation Rankings
(Edit: Some of the translated terms are based on the definitions and some from other translators and commenters at Wuxiaworld.)
Xiuzhe
| Stage | Title | Expected Lifetime |
| 1 | Lianqi (Forging Energy) | Normal |
| 2 | Zhuji (Establishing Foundation) | Normal |
| 3 | Ningmai (Congealing Channels) | Normal |
| 4 | Jindan (Gold Core) | Three hundred years |
| 5 | Yuanying (Nascent Soul) | Five hundred years |
| 6 | Fanxu (Return to Nothingness) | Seven hundred years |
| 7 | Dasheng (Great Vehicle) | One thousand years |
Mo (I used the US military ranking as the starting point.)
| Stage | Title |
| 1 | Soldier/Private (bing) |
| 2 | Captain (wei) |
| 3 | Colonel (jiao) |
| 4 | Brigadier (tongling) |
| 5 | General (jiang) |
| 6 | Marshal (shuai) |
| 7 | King (wang) |
Yao
| Stage | Title |
| 1 | Xinghuo (starfire) |
| 2 | Huawu (transformation) |
| 3 | Zhonghun (Plant spirit) |
| 4 | Yinshen (Yin Spirit) |
| 5 | Yaofu (Yao Mansion) |
| 6 | Liulun (Six Rotations) |
| 7 | Tianmai (Sky Channels) |