Flying Gourds is an Epic Inner Way in Where Winds Meet built around the Inkwell Fan’s Silkbind - Jade path. It changes how the weapon’s core special skill works by trading a longer cooldown for many more uses and unlocks a series of breakthrough bonuses that lean hard into aerial crowd control and precision damage.
What Flying Gourds does
Flying Gourds is tagged as a Martial Arts, Support Inner Way aligned with the Silkbind - Jade path for the Inkwell Fan. Its base effect is straightforward but dramatic:
- Grants 2 charges to Inkwell Fan’s special skill Peak's Springless Silence.
- Increases the skill’s cooldown by 3 seconds.
The result is a skill that can be fired off twice in quick succession instead of once, at the cost of waiting slightly longer between full rotations. For Silkbind - Jade builds that revolve around repeated repositioning and aerial control, that extra charge is often worth far more than the three-second delay.
Where to get Flying Gourds
Flying Gourds is not tied to a vendor or a random drop. It comes from a fixed chest linked to the Inkwell Fan’s sanctum content in Qinghe’s Sundara Land.
Flying Gourds location (Inkwell Fan - Sanctum)
To pick up the Flying Gourds tome, you need to reach and infiltrate the Inkwell Fan - Sanctum area and open a specific golden chest hidden inside.
Step 1: Unlock the Sundara Land region by talking to the Sundara Land Wayfarer and revealing the Sundara Land map. This is required to begin tracking the clue that points you toward the sanctum.
Step 2: Travel to Inkwell Fan - Sanctum in Sundara Land, Qinghe. The relevant area sits near the Floral Expanse Beyond Boundary Stone, with the cave entrance that leads under the sanctum located to the northwest of that landmark.
Step 3: Use a Dragon Key to open the cave entrance beneath the sanctum. Dragon Keys are one-time-use items that unlock hidden passages in sect hideouts. Enough keys can be earned in Qinghe to open all key-locked hideout passages, so there is no long-term downside to spending one here.
Step 4: Move through the cave and interior sections under the sanctum. Militamen patrol the corridors, and the layout is designed around sneaking rather than direct combat. Navigating undetected lets you reach the deeper areas more safely.
Step 5: Progress until you reach the area immediately before the Skill Theft encounter for the Inkwell Fan Martial Art. The Flying Gourds chest is placed just ahead of where you perform that Skill Theft.
Step 6: Look for a large golden chest set in front of a wall of thick vines with two wooden barrels beside it. This specific chest holds the Flying Gourds: Tome. Open it to permanently unlock the Inner Way.
Flying Gourds stats and synergy
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Inner Way (Internal Art) |
| Rarity | Epic |
| Path | Silkbind - Jade |
| Tags | Martial Arts, Support |
| Base Effect | Grants 2 charges to Inkwell Fan’s Peak's Springless Silence, increases its cooldown by 3 seconds. |
Flying Gourds slots cleanly into Silkbind - Jade fan builds that rely on repeated uses of Peak's Springless Silence to control space, juggle enemies, or reposition via the Water Entity mechanic. Where some Inner Ways simply increase numbers, Flying Gourds changes how often you can access one of the weapon’s defining tools.
Flying Gourds breakthrough enhancements (Tier 1–6)
Like other Inner Ways, Flying Gourds can be upgraded through breakthrough tiers. Each tier keeps the base “two charges + longer cooldown” effect and layers additional behavior on top of it.
| Tier | Breakthrough bonus |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | During special skill Peak's Springless Silence, returning to your original location via Water Entity reduces the skill’s cooldown by 3 seconds and increases Movement Speed by 20%. |
| Tier 2 | Increases Precision Rate based on your Solo Mode Level. |
| Tier 3 | If you hit an airborne target with Peak's Springless Silence but fail to knock it down, the next use of Peak's Springless Silence within 15 seconds gains 30% increased damage and has its cooldown reduced by 3 seconds. |
| Tier 4 | After returning to the original location via Water Entity during Peak's Springless Silence, the next Light Attack Charged Skill Fleeting Gale charges 50% faster and its tornado moves 50% faster for 3 seconds. |
| Tier 5 | Increases Silkbind Penetration by 6. |
| Tier 6 | When the special skill Spring Empties the Mountains hits a target and either successfully causes Launch or applies Lingering Bone, it immediately refunds 2 seconds of its own cooldown and resets the cooldown of Moonrise Startles Spring. For 3 seconds, each Heavy Attack follow-up hit on that target reduces Spring Empties the Mountains’ cooldown by 1 second, up to once per second. |
The pattern across these tiers is clear: Flying Gourds pushes you toward aggressive, technical play with the Inkwell Fan. You are rewarded for:
- Actively using Water Entity to zip back and forth instead of treating Peak's Springless Silence as a fire-and-forget.
- Maintaining airborne pressure, even when you do not secure a knockdown.
- Chaining Silkbind - Jade skills such as Fleeting Gale, Spring Empties the Mountains, and Moonrise Startles Spring into longer combo strings.
By Tier 6, the Inner Way effectively turns Spring Empties the Mountains into a short-cycle launcher if you manage your Heavy Attack follow-ups correctly, while also refreshing Moonrise Startles Spring for repeat use in the same window.
How to upgrade Flying Gourds
Breakthrough tiers are not unlocked automatically; they require progression in Solo Mode and specific upgrade materials tied to this Inner Way.
Step 1: Reach Solo Mode Level 4, also referred to as Level 4 Roaming. Inner Way breakthrough upgrades only become available once your Solo Mode progression hits this threshold.
Step 2: Collect Flying Gourds: Notes. These are Inner Way-specific advance items used to unlock tiers and scale their bonuses. Flying Gourds: Notes can be obtained through multiple content types, with the Tips Exchange being a central method for this particular Inner Way.
Step 3: Spend Notes on breakthrough upgrades. Each tier costs more Notes than the last, with each subsequent tier requiring 10 more Notes than the previous one. Plan ahead if you are juggling upgrades across several Inner Ways, as investment escalates quickly at higher tiers.
Beyond the Tips Exchange, Inner Way Note: Chests in general can come from seasonal content and shops, which indirectly fuel Flying Gourds upgrades by providing random notes:
- Seasonal events such as Fresh Wind, New Year (also named Dawn to Dusk), and the Fireworks Festival (a Friday/Saturday multiplayer event in Kaifeng) reward Inner Way Note: Chests.
- Zhao Feiyan in Kaifeng City sells Inner Way Note: Chests for in-game currency.
- The Season Shop sells Inner Way Note: Chests for Jade Fish currency, each chest granting a random Inner Way note when opened.
When Flying Gourds is worth running
Flying Gourds is at its best when a build is already committed to the Inkwell Fan and the Silkbind - Jade route. Doubling the charges on Peak's Springless Silence reshapes your engagement pattern, letting you:
- Open with one use for positioning or crowd setup, then hold a second for reactive defense or follow-up juggles.
- Leverage Water Entity as a mobility and cooldown tool rather than treating it purely as a teleport gimmick, especially once Tier 1 is unlocked.
- Capitalize on Tier 3 and Tier 6 bonuses by keeping enemies airborne and chaining into Spring Empties the Mountains and Moonrise Startles Spring.
The three-second cooldown penalty is meaningful in fights where you rely on perfectly timed uses of Peak's Springless Silence. Once you begin to stack breakthrough tiers, the number of ways to refund or reduce that cooldown often outpaces the penalty, especially if you are disciplined about returning via Water Entity and executing Heavy Attack follow-ups on launched or Lingering Bone-marked targets.
For players who prefer a slower, single-skill rotation or who are not invested in the full Silkbind - Jade toolkit, more generic Inner Ways may feel less demanding. For those who want Inkwell Fan to function as a high-frequency control and mobility platform, Flying Gourds is one of the few Inner Ways that redefines how the weapon is played rather than simply pushing up damage numbers.
