Jianghu is not just a location. It is a social world of martial artists, grudges, alliances, reputations, and unwritten rules.
Glossary term
Jianghu
What does Jianghu mean?
The martial underworld or wandering society outside ordinary government life.
In wuxia it is central. In xianxia it may appear as the lower-level martial world before larger cultivation factions enter the story.
A good jianghu setting feels like a network of inns, escorts, clans, duels, rumors, debts, and revenge.