Try explaining cultivation as the practice of gaining more energy/power through martial arts and how the ultimate goal is immortality
Leveling up your spiritual power. The stronger your power, the longer your lifespan, with the end goal being becoming immortal.
I would try to compare it to RPGs. A noob comes across a private chat group of the worlds best players. Is mistaken for a high level player due to his profile name, and gets caught up in all kinds of shenanigans as a result It's like if dragon ball z became real and the earth was replaced with planet vegetation (pre-frieza)
They can't be too dumb if they're ABC, right? Maybe I underestimate their grandparents' wisdom... I don't know. I'm an ABC myself.
The tempering of the mind body and spirit. Like how the forging of metal changes the fundamental nature of metal, its various molecular bonds, structure and type of elements that can be found in the end product. The tempering process can result in many various outcomes depending on the path and process the forger applies to the metal.
most of my friends were normies growing up and even they knew what anime and manga was, without having ever had an interest in reading/watching it themselves. it should be safe to assume ABCs would have at least minimal knowledge on things of their cultural heritage. explaining it as the martial path to self improvement, with benefits such as longevity and physical prowess and it'll be easy to then talk about the satirical nature of the story you are introducing to them.
It's like leveling up Pokémon, except you are the Pokémon and you have to consume drugs and get struck by lightning to level up. Instead of levels, it's counted by the colors of the rainbow or stars etc.
Just saying that people are absorbing the world's energy called qi and using it to strengthen themselves. It makes them superhuman and gives them longer lives. The more they absorb the stronger they get. You can compare it to power levels in Dragon Ball Z or having more chakra in Naruto.
sigh~ so what kind of friend? I hear dragonball quite popular on west so you can use that example imagine goku using sword (or whatever you call it) to fight + lot of people have similar power or naruto example imagine those ninja can fly but saying katon blablabla but they are not ninja~ another example perfect world flying sword? check √ here da new one on mobile ver jade beauty? check √ beast race? check √ now that da basic
Relay to them that cultivation is like levels in an games. When a person's cultivation is low, their level is 1. To raise their cultivation is to level up in a sense. How does one level up in a cultivation sense? The cultivator which can be the player whose level is 1, is required to absorb qi(ki or chi) or energy from their surroundings, and said energy is experience points in a sense. Now the problem is there are more than just one person cultivating (leveling), so how does one increase their cultivation (level)? They take on quests (tribulations), and each quest can assist your cultivation, but if they fail a quest, then they will have on rewards. The rewards being additional companions (friends or romantic interests), items (treasures), or experience points (qi). The focal point of cultivating is to reach a state of immortality, basically leveling up to max player level. When a person cultivates (leveling) to a higher realm (level up), then their abilities (stats/attributes) increase using qi (experience points). Of course, this is the basic method to level up, since there are two paths to level up. One is to obtain EXP from the area, items or monsters drops. The other is to obtain EXP from stealing EXP from other people or monsters using EXP stealing skills (demonic techniques). In the cultivation world (game), a cultivator (player) has face (reputation points). There are also factions which you can aligned yourself in, and either increase, decrease, or maintain your relationship. And... I'm tired, but you get the gist of it. Just convert all terms to gaming terms, and they surely will understand.
Locate heavenly peerless country toppling vaginas, wait for them to fall into a perilous situation which results in them being severely hurt or come under the effects of some poison/aphrodisiac, penetrate the moist valley and break through multiple levels of cultivation. Source: Against the gods.
It might be too late to reply but start with the Xian and Xia characters. Xian has mountain and person in it to make immortal and is related to mythology of immortals hidden high up in the mountains. The Xia for hero is related to the hero’s journey and in this case is the journey from mortal to immortal. Various Xianxia novels just are infinite variations on that and many add levels based on Daoism like Golden Dan. This also helps readers understand progress so it’s both related to Daoism and a useful writer tool. Cultivation Chat Group in particular is similar to Harry Potter and Twilight in the idea of hidden mystical worlds inside our everyday reality. They should be familiar with one of them, or both, and is another way to help explain it simply.