Welcome! If this is your first time reading one of my uploads, just a heads-up—I'm only the translator ヾ( `ー´)シφ__
English isn't my native language, so I apologize in advance if you come across the occasional grammar mistake, odd wording choice, or awkward phrasing. I do my best to keep the translation smooth and natural, but I'm still learning and improving with every project (´･ᴗ･`)
A Note on Titles Blurbs and Chapters
If you've already read a few of my projects, you might have noticed that I often use my own 'adopted' English title rather than a direct translation. There's a lot of thought behind this! Often, a direct title can be too generic, overly long, or just not capture the story's soul.
My goal is always to grab your attention with a title that's catchy, readable, and reflects the story's heart. And this philosophy doesn't stop there! I also write my own versions of the story blurb and chapter titles. If an original chapter title feels uninteresting or doesn't capture the chapter's essence, I'll craft one that does.
But don't worry—I'm always transparent about this. For the main title, I always include the original English title (the one you'd find on NU or other sites) right under my blurb on the NOTES section. So if you're curious, it's just a quick scroll away.
As for the original Chinese title and author, you can find that listed on my Patreon, which is linked in my Carrd.
The Nuts & Bolts of My Translation
My Philosophy: Creative Translation & Method
Like my other projects, this translation isn't word-for-word. My goal is to make the story flow smoothly in English and capture the emotions and spirit of the original, not just the literal words. This means I take creative liberties where I feel they're needed.
Let me be perfectly clear: my translation is a subjective interpretation, not a 100% identical copy. The journey you read here is filtered through my lens.
My process generally has two main steps:
Step 1: The Skeleton. This is the first translation pass. It establishes the core plot, dialogue, and all essential story beats. Even here, my choice of wording and interpretation is shaped by my own lens—it's not a literal, word-by-word conversion.
Step 2: The Expansion & Smoothing. This is where I take that skeleton and bring it to life as a compelling English narrative. This phase has two key focuses:
Expansion: Adding concrete sensory details, micro-actions, and atmospheric grounding to make every scene vivid and immersive.
Smoothing: Improving narrative flow, restructuring sentences for better rhythm, deepening emotional beats, and enhancing the overall pacing.
All chapters go through the full Expansion & Smoothing process described above. For the vast majority of chapters, this means enhancing the prose, rhythm, and emotional clarity while preserving the original structure, plot points, and core intent. For these chapters, I would estimate the final translation is about 80-85% faithful to the original text's literal meaning and stylistic presentation, with the difference accounted for by my interpretive smoothing and stylistic choices.
However, the "Expansion" phase can sometimes go further into what I call "special treatment."
This "special treatment" can include:
Writing and inserting entirely new, original chapters or extra scenes that don't exist in the source material.
Changing a side character's gender.
Interpreting a platonic relationship as having romantic potential and steering their interactions to have that nuance—or even developing it into a full-blown subplot.
A crucial reminder: I'M NOT THE AUTHOR. Even with these creative choices, this is fundamentally a translation crafted as a transformative work, not a full-blown original fanfiction. I will never change the main plot or the core heart of the story. The journey's destination and its major milestones belong to the original author; the scenic routes, the color commentary, and the lens through which you see the characters' inner lives are shaped by my work as a translator.
As such, this translation is a fan-created, transformative project. It is not intended as an official or authoritative version of the work, but as a creative bridge to it.
In short: think of it as a creative collaboration with the original text. The story's soul is preserved, but its voice in English is uniquely mine. You could call it 'Reiya's version' of the story—a transformative, adaptive translation that lives in the space between a literal conversion and a full fan adaptation.
A Final Note on Responsibility & Intent: This translation is presented as my own creative interpretation. The choice to create an adaptive, "creative translation"—rather than a strictly literal one—serves two purposes: to make the story more vibrant for English readers, and to operate thoughtfully within the space of fan-created content by adding a distinct interpretive layer. I am responsible for the words I write here on AO3 (as Psueds Rikhi) and on Webnovel (as Reiya_Alberich). I am not responsible for, and do not endorse, any reposting, plagiarism, or unauthorized commercial use of this work by any third party.
A Peek Into My (Chaotic) Process
As for my general workflow... it might be a bit unconventional, but it works for me. I'll be the first to admit that for casual reading, I usually rely on a Google Translate browser extension.
Yeah, that one. We all know how cursed it can be (ಥ﹏ಥ)
For translation, my process is a little more involved. I always have two browser tabs open for the same chapter: one with the original text and another with a machine translation. When I hit a wall or need a second perspective on a tricky sentence, I peek at the auto-translation to compare.
To keep myself consistent, I use a simple notepad to jot down terms, names, or specific phrases I've translated. I have to confess, my system isn't perfect. Sometimes I delete an entry thinking a word was a one-time use, only to find it becomes important chapters later. The worst is when I simply not write it down at all.
This is especially true when I return to a novel after working on others, as I usually juggle multiple projects at the same time, which can get chaotic. In those cases, it's hard to remember the exact word I used, and I often end up making a new choice, which leads to inconsistencies. Of course, sometimes I just suddenly want to change a term I already used. For that, I sincerely apologize.
On Cultural Specifics in Language: Siblings, Swears, & Exclamations
You might notice—especially in my newer projects or the later chapters of ongoing long series—that I keep certain Chinese terms in the dialogue. The most common are relationship terms like Jiejie (older sister), Gege (older brother), Meimei (younger sister), and Didí (younger brother).
I do this because these terms carry a cultural weight that gets lost in direct translation. In many Asian cultures, they're not just for blood relatives. They're used to show affection, respect, playful mockery, to establish social hierarchy, or even just basic politeness to a stranger.
Why "Jiejie" isn't just "Sis":
Calling someone "Lin-jie" is different from calling them "Miss Lin" or "Sister Lin"—it implies a specific kind of closeness or deference. Replacing it with a simple "Sis" or "Bro" flattens that meaning entirely. It's similar to how in Korean, calling someone 누나 (Noona) carries a different social weight than the English word "Sister."
A Broader Look from My Culture (Indonesian/Javanese):
This system of nuanced address is widespread. In my culture, we have a similar map:
Mas is used for an older male where the age gap or status difference isn't vast.
Mbak is used for an older female under the same conditions.
Both Mas and Mbak can also be used among peers of similar age and, or status as a term of friendly closeness and respect—it doesn't always imply hierarchy.
For someone younger, we use Dek (Adek), which is gender-neutral.There are also the more standard, neutral terms Kakak/Kak (older sibling) and Adik/Dik (younger sibling), which are also used for all genders.
The rules of this system can become even more intricate when family hierarchy overrides simple age.
For example, let's say my mother has an older brother, and he has a son who is younger than me. Despite being older than him, I would call him Mas, and he would call me Dek. Why? Because in our family hierarchy, he is from the generation of my mother (his father is my mother's older brother). His generational rank is higher, so I use the term for a slightly older male (Mas) out of respect for his position in the family tree, and he uses the term for a younger person (Dek) to acknowledge the difference.
This shows it's a multi-layered social GPS where factors like generational rank can override the simple fact of who is older.
This concept applies to extended family as well with terms like:
Paklek / Bulek (from bapak cilik / ibu cilik). "Cilik" means "little" or "smaller." This is used for someone older than you and of higher status, but younger or of a slightly lower standing than your parents. It essentially means "respected person who is like a younger uncle/aunt."
Pakde / Budhe (from bapak gedhe / ibu gedhe). "Gedhe" means "big" or "greater." This is used for someone of your parents' generation, age, or social status, or even higher/older. It means "respected person who is like a senior uncle/aunt."
Om / Tante (Uncle / Aunt) are also used as general, respectful terms for neighbors, shopkeepers, or any friendly elder, with no implication of blood relation.
You can call a neighbor "Paklek" or the shopkeeper "Tante" without implying any family tie. Choosing the right term isn't random—it conveys the exact nature of your relationship: the level of respect, the estimated age difference, and the social hierarchy between you. English collapses this entire system.
"Uncle" can't distinguish between your father's brother, a respected older neighbor, and a middle-aged stranger you're being polite to. That's what I mean by "flattening." The rich, contextual information embedded in the original term is erased.
Why Preserving This Nuance Matters:
Without this cultural layer, readers can get seriously confused. I once saw a story (likely a translation) in TikTok, where the female lead was in love with her "little uncle." The comments were flooded with "UNCLE???" and disgust, even though it was clearly stated he was adopted and their age gap was less than ten years. The English word "uncle" triggered a literal, biological alarm that the original term (which might have been something like "shushu" 叔叔) was never meant to convey. The cultural flavor wasn't just lost—it created a major plot misunderstanding.
The reason I'm currently focusing only on sibling terms in my translations is twofold:
My knowledge of the nuanced, context-dependent usage of extended familial terms in Chinese is still growing. I don't want to misuse them and create more confusion.
Terms like 姐 (jiě), 妹 (mèi), 弟 (dì), and 哥 (gē) already have relatively common recognition and usage among international readers.
I'm sticking to what I know I can handle accurately for now. However, in the future, I may expand this "no-translation" rule to include common extended terms like 叔叔 (shūshu, little uncle) / 阿姨 (āyí, little aunt) and 伯伯 (bóbo, big uncle) / 姑姑 (gūgu, big aunt) once I'm more confident in their precise application.
I hope you understand, and thank you for your patience as I learn! (´･ᴗ･`)
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The same care applies to exclamations. You'll often see characters exclaim "Heavens!" or "My Heaven!" instead of "Oh my God." In xianxia and historical settings, "Heaven" (天, Tian) represents fate and the cosmic order—it's the culturally appropriate exclamation.
My goal is to preserve this flavor. I'll try add a translator's note the first time a key term appears (if I remember), but I'll keep the term itself in the text so you can feel the nuance in every interaction. This is a newer "rule" in my translation style, so you'll see it applied more consistently in works I start from now on.
The Evolution of My Style
Translation is an evolving craft. Each novel and chapter teaches me something new. You might notice my translation style shift and refine over time—not just from one completed project to the next, but sometimes even within a single novel.
Let's say a novel has 800 chapters. The early chapters might feel a bit rougher, as they were my first steps in translating it. Then, by chapter 200 or 300, I might have developed a new preference for handling dialogue. By chapter 500, I might refine how I convey internal monologues and the general narrative style. Since I'm usually juggling multiple projects, a stylistic refinement that happens in one novel can also immediately influence a new project I start, making the newer one feel more polished from the get-go.
However, even as the surface-level style evolves, the core of my translation philosophy remains constant. If you read a few of my different projects, you'll probably start to recognize my distinctive 'voice' and approach underneath it all. The heart of how I interpret and connect with a story is the one thing that doesn't change.
Translator Notes & Extras
You'll also see translator notes sprinkled here and there—usually for cultural context, terminology, or background info. Sometimes, I also make deliberate changes in the translation. This might be something small, like using a different English term, or it might be larger, such as rewriting a sentence or even adjusting the meaning of an entire paragraph if I feel it reads more naturally in English. When that happens, I'll usually include what the author originally wrote and explain my choice.
For readers who know my style, you've probably also noticed that I like giving nicknames to contracted companions or pets (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧. I usually do this when the author only refers to a pet by its species name. Whenever that happens, I'll add a footnote explaining the original wording and the nickname I chose.
These "translator notes" usually appear right within the chapter text, marked with a clear divider (===) so they're easy to spot. I'm just so used to this system, and I find it's much clearer for readers, especially when the notes get long. Sometimes I might also use AO3's 'Notes' section for extra comments, but the main footnotes with cultural explanations or translation choices will almost always be in the chapter body with my trusty divider.
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Some of you may already know that I keep private glossaries in Google Docs. One is for Xianxia terms. One is for ancient China history and bureaucracy. I usually link them in chapter comments. I realized some of you read on the app, and copying links there is not convenient (´･ᴗ･`). So I decided to upload both glossaries directly on Webnovel. You can access them easily, and I can keep them updated whenever I add new entries. (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ
• The Xianxia Handbook: A Guide to Cultivation and Beyond
In short: for all things Cultivation, Realms, etc. Entries cover key terms like the Dao, Laws, realms and stages, sect structure. I include plain explanations, usage notes, and quick cross-references.
• The Imperial Handbook: A Practical Guide to Ancient Chinese Society
In short: for historical topics, courts, bureaucracy, daily life, currency, titles, and common institutions. Expect concise explanations of offices and ranks, how local government worked, and what people actually did at places like the yamen or various bureaus.
• The Webnovel Handbook: A Guide to Slang, Tropes, and Inside Jokes
In short: for community slang, memes, running jokes, and fan culture. Note: The initial entries are still few, but will grow steadily as I add more fun terms and tropes!
If these resources help you, please consider adding my Handbook Series to your library so you can find them fast during reading sessions! It includes guides to Xianxia cultivation, ancient Chinese society, and webnovel slang & tropes. Your ratings, reviews, shares with fellow readers mean the world and your comments help me refine examples and fill gaps, it also help me to keep improving these guides for everyone!
And just a small reminder: I'm not paid by Webnovel or under any official contract. If you'd like to support me directly, you can do so through:
☕️: https://ko-fi.com/rikhi
🎨: https://patreon.com/rikhi]
Disclaimer: This is an unofficial fan translation. I do not own the rights to the original story. All credit and ownership belong to the author. This is a non-profit, fan-created translation shared for the purpose of introducing this wonderful story to a wider audience. If you enjoy this work, the best way to support the author is by accessing it through official channels.
Regarding the Nature of This Translation: This project is best understood as a "Creative Translation." It is not a word-for-word conversion, but a subjective interpretation intended to capture the soul of the story in a new language. I act as both a translator and a creative partner to the text, which means I may expand, interpret, or slightly alter elements to serve the narrative's flow and emotional impact in English.
Consequently, the text you are reading is a hybrid work. It is fundamentally the author's story, but it is also distinctly my version of it. It exists in the space between direct translation and fan adaptation, faithful to the spirit but shaped by my creative choices.
Thank you so much for reading, and I truly hope you enjoy this novel as much as I did when I first discovered it (｡•ㅅ•｡)♡