The Homestead system turns the ruined village of Blissful Retreat into a sandbox you rebuild and run yourself. It arrived with Version 1.8, Companions Make Home, on June 25, 2026 (UTC+8), and lets you return to Qinghe as the Young Master to plant crops, brew wine, fire porcelain, hire villagers as Retainers, and design your own residence.
Quick answer: Unlock the Homestead by finishing the Exploration Quests Where Bamboos Remember and Childhood Reverie in Qinghe. After that, management of Blissful Retreat opens up, and you start earning Bounty Gourds to spend in the Homestead Shop.
How to unlock the Homestead system
Access runs through two Exploration Quests in Qinghe. Both double as the tutorial, introducing planting, fishing, and cooking before the full estate opens.
You know it worked when Homestead activities such as farming become available and the Retainers and building menus appear. Farming is the first activity you can perform once the system is unlocked.
What you can do at Blissful Retreat
Blissful Retreat is the management side of the Homestead. You restore facilities, run industries, and feed their outputs into one another. Production happens in real time, so some items finish in a few minutes while dishes and other goods can take hours.
| Activity | What it does |
|---|---|
| Farming | Plant crops on plots of land, then harvest them to cook dishes for the inn. This is the first activity available after unlocking. |
| Porcelain Kiln | Produces vases and dishware, which can be used to brew wine or sold for profit. |
| Aromas Brewery | Brews different wines that can be served to inn customers or traded. |
| Inn | Caters dishes and wine to customers and earns Bounty Gourds. |
| Local Specialties | Resources kept in the Warehouse, including fish, meat, stones, and timber, used to develop items and dishes. |
| Build Infrastructures | Construct structures and industries across Blissful Retreat, including renovating the inn. |
| Crane Retreat | A dedicated facility within the estate. |
The chain matters. Crops become dishes, kiln goods feed the brewery, and finished wine and food are either served at the inn or traded for profit. Keeping these loops moving is what generates currency over time.
How to recruit Retainers
Retainers are the workforce that handles the heavy labor at Blissful Retreat. They process items and collect materials and ingredients across roles such as Innkeeping, Klinwork, and Brewcraft, which keeps your industries running without constant manual input.
Tip: An idle business means lost production. Keep eligible Retainers assigned so facilities keep working while you are away exploring the rest of Jianghu.
Building a residence: Beyond Mundane
Beyond Mundane is the creative half of the Homestead, a standalone area kept separate from the open world. It is where you build and decorate a private space without being locked into one fixed house layout.
You have wide freedom to shape it. Suggested directions include a quiet personal retreat, a lively traditional street, a waterside courtyard, a large custom residence, or something more unconventional of your own design. While the area is meant to be open-ended, the live system may still apply placement boundaries, build limits, or material costs.
Bounty Gourds and the Homestead Shop
Running the estate rewards Bounty Gourds, the Homestead’s dedicated currency. You earn them through Homestead activities, including operating the inn, and spend them in the Homestead Shop.
The shop stocks items for developing Retainers and Consumables, plus Facilities and Furniture for building out your estate and residence. The Summer’s Blush outfit is a notable free reward tied to the Homestead.
The most reliable way to build up Bounty Gourds early is to clear all the available tutorial and restoration objectives first, then restore core businesses connected to multiple production chains before repeating any single activity. Prioritize facilities tied to required objectives rather than the most decorative buildings.
Beyond Artistry: sharing builds in July
The social layer of the Homestead expands on July 3, 2026 (UTC+8) with Beyond Artistry. You will be able to upload your Homestead blueprints tagged with Beyond Artistry to claim rewards, showcase finished builds, and browse designs created by other players.
It does not arrive with the initial June 25 release, so if you want elaborate residences ready to share, spend the gap gathering materials and learning the construction tools. Once it goes live, your saved builds become something the wider community can view and use.
