Free Morph is one of the most demanding Mystic Skills to unlock in Where Winds Meet. It sits at the end of a chain that runs through multiple campaign dungeons, an exploration grind in Qinghe, a puzzle-heavy tower, and finally a challenge-only version of the Tian Ying (Miaoshan) boss fight, where the game asks you to parry under pressure.
What Free Morph does in combat
Free Morph is an offensive, single-target control Mystic Skill tied to Tian Ying’s martial arts. It functions as an aerial combo that keeps enemies locked in place and then slams them back to the ground.
| Property | Free Morph value |
|---|---|
| Type | Offensive Mystic Skill |
| Sub-category | Single-target Control, Combo Technique |
| Base effect | Leap into the air, kick the target upward, maintain a midair barrage, then finish with a ground slam that damages on impact. |
| Vitality cost (Tier 4) | 30 |
| Cooldown (Tier 4) | 3 seconds |
The animation is built for juggles: the first hit launches, the following kicks keep the target suspended, and the final slam creates a brief window to reposition, swap targets, or stack follow-up skills.
Free Morph breakthrough bonuses and upgrade costs
Like other Mystic Skills, Free Morph levels through Ranks and Tiers. Each Tier adds a specific bonus on top of the usual damage scaling from Rank upgrades.
| Tier | Bonus effect |
|---|---|
| Tier 2 | Deals 10% additional damage to players. |
| Tier 3 | Deals 20% additional damage to targets with an HP Shield. |
| Tier 4 | Reduces Vitality cost by 5 points. |
Upgrading Free Morph consumes Ebon Iron of different levels and Buddha's Tear Root. Tier 1 covers basic Rank 0–9 upgrades; further promotions unlock the bonuses above and demand more materials per Rank.
| Tier | Rank range | Upgrade requirement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0–9 | Lv. 1 Ebon Iron ×2 per rank |
| 2 (promotion) | 0 | Buddha's Tear Root ×5, Lv. 1 Ebon Iron ×2 |
| 2 | 1–9 | Lv. 2 Ebon Iron ×4 per rank |
| 3 (promotion) | 0 | Buddha's Tear Root ×15, Lv. 2 Ebon Iron ×4 |
| 3 | 1–9 | Lv. 3 Ebon Iron ×10 per rank |
| 4 (promotion) | 0 | Buddha's Tear Root ×18, Lv. 3 Ebon Iron ×10 |
| 4 | 1–9 | Lv. 4 Ebon Iron ×20 per rank |
Once promoted to Tier 4, Free Morph becomes both cheaper to cast (due to the Vitality reduction) and more punishing against shielded or player targets, which makes it a strong pick for both PvE bosses and PvP skirmishes.
Step 1: Clear the Bodhi Sea campaign and get the first Buddha's Light Jade half
The path to Free Morph starts in Qinghe’s Bodhi Sea. The goal here is to finish the campaign mission that ends with a boss and rewards half of the Buddha's Light Jade pendant.
| Objective | What to do |
|---|---|
| Reach Bodhi Sea | Travel to the swamp area marked as Bodhi Sea in Qinghe. |
| Activate three drums | Search the swamp for three drums; follow the sound cues that pulse on your HUD to track each one. |
| Clear enemies at each drum | Defeat the guards around a drum, then interact with it to progress. |
| Teleport to the boss arena | After all drums are played, head to the pointed location to be transported to the boss area. |
| Defeat the boss | Win the fight to receive the first half of Buddha's Light Jade. |
This half-pendant is a quest item; it will be used much later at Halo Peak, so do not discard it.
Step 2: Clear Palace of Annals and get the second Buddha's Light Jade half
The second half of the pendant comes from another campaign dungeon: Palace of Annals. The structure is similar but shifts from swamp navigation to an underground temple.
| Stage | Details |
|---|---|
| Enter Palace of Annals | Head to the temple-like complex marked as Palace of Annals in Qinghe. |
| Progress through the temple | Fight standard enemies, explore hallways, and eventually reach a breakable floor section. |
| Break the floor | Smash through to drop into the dungeon-style lower area. |
| Repair the lift | Find and activate mechanisms around the midway level to restore the lift, then descend further. |
| Explore optional chests | Loot as desired; the route remains straightforward, with no hidden route required for the pendant. |
| Defeat the dungeon boss | Fight the boss behind the final large door. |
| Investigate the serpent/dragon head | Interact with the statue’s head after the fight to obtain the second half of Buddha's Light Jade. |
With both halves acquired, the pendant is ready for its real use: unlocking the Halo Peak dungeon where Tian Ying waits.
Step 3: Reach 6,000 exploration points in Qinghe to unlock The Promised Light
The campaign that leads to Tian Ying and Free Morph does not appear until Qinghe’s exploration reaches a specific threshold. You need a total of 6,000 exploration points in the region.
| Action type | Contributes to exploration points? |
|---|---|
| Campaign quests and chapters | Yes |
| Side missions and side stories | Yes |
| Exploration activities (Oddities, camps, etc.) | Yes |
| Opening chests | Yes |
| Unlocking fast travel points | Yes |
Use the region overview on the world map to track your progress; Qinghe’s area exploration screen will show your current level and total points. Once you hit the required 6,000 points and claim the reward for Level 5, a new campaign, The Promised Light, appears in Qinghe.
Step 4: Start The Promised Light at Halo Peak and place Buddha's Light Jade
The Promised Light campaign sends you to Halo Peak and into the tower that hides Tian Ying’s dungeon.
| Checkpoint | What happens |
|---|---|
| Travel to Halo Peak | Follow the campaign marker to the tall tower at Halo Peak. |
| Climb to the top | Ascend inside the tower to reach the altar at the summit. |
| Set in-game time | If the game does not allow placing the pendant, change time to the Wu hour (roughly midnight) using the time-change feature. |
| Place Buddha's Light Jade | Slot the combined pendant into the device at the top. This unlocks the next layer of the dungeon. |
| Open the base door | A door at the base of the tower opens once the pendant is placed. |
| Reveal the trap door | Inside the tower’s base, interact with the mechanism on the right wall to open the floor and access the underground area. |
Before dropping down, make sure you have the Mystic Skill Meridian Touch, which is used to rotate statues and direct light during puzzles in the dungeon. Meridian Touch is obtained through its own Jianghu quest, but by this point in the region, you are expected to have it unlocked.
Step 5: Solve the Halo Peak light puzzles with Meridian Touch
The underground section beneath Halo Peak mixes combat with light-routing puzzles. Meridian Touch is the key to moving the statues that carry beams of light.
| Room | Puzzle requirement |
|---|---|
| First statue room | Use Meridian Touch on the single statue to rotate it until its beam hits the dark hole or focal point, opening the next door. |
| Multi-statue chamber | Use Meridian Touch on the set of statues, rotating each in turn to chain the light from one to the next and finally into the exit lock. |
| Final statue near the bottom | After the collapsing platform sequence, rotate the last statue with Meridian Touch until its light unlocks the final door before Tian Ying. |
The rest of the descent includes two notable combat beats with spinning enemies and a platforming segment where floors fall away as you move.
- Shortly after crouching under debris, the floor collapses, and you drop into a chamber with three fast-spinning enemies. They take heavy damage from successful deflects, so parrying is the efficient way to clear them.
- Later, another room houses three more of these spinning enemies; the same deflect-first approach applies.
- Near the bottom, you weave across ropes and ledges while platforms fall out underfoot. Sprint and jump cleanly to avoid being trapped by the collapsing floor.
At the very bottom, a fast travel point sits in front of the final statue puzzle. Activate it before rotating the statue to open the boss door; this becomes your checkpoint if you need to retry the fight.
Step 6: Defeat Tian Ying (Miaoshan) in the campaign to earn Yaksha Rush
Behind the last door is the secret boss Tian Ying, also called Miaoshan. The first time you complete this three-phase encounter as part of The Promised Light campaign, the reward is the Yaksha Rush Mystic Skill, not Free Morph.
At this stage, focus on clearing the fight however you prefer. Free Morph is tied to a separate Challenge version of Tian Ying that only becomes available after this initial victory.
Step 7: Unlock the Challenge version of Tian Ying
Once Tian Ying has fallen in the campaign, his fight appears in the Wandering Paths menu as a Challenge boss.
| Menu | Navigation |
|---|---|
| Wandering Paths | Open the main menu, select Wandering Paths. |
| Challenges tab | Switch to the Challenges section. |
| Tian Ying (Miaoshan) | Select the Tian Ying challenge entry; the Free Morph Mystic Skill appears here with a completion percentage. |
The Challenge version mirrors the campaign fight structure but adds an extra condition in phase two: you must parry a specific kick attack repeatedly to fill a proficiency meter represented by an eye icon beside Tian Ying’s health bar.
Step 8: Fill the eye meter by deflecting Tian Ying’s spinning kicks
Free Morph is not granted just for winning the Challenge fight. The game tracks your performance during phase two through the eye icon next to Tian Ying’s HP bar. That ring must be filled before the boss dies.
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Reach phase two | Defeat Tian Ying’s first phase as normal; manage damage but do not worry about the eye icon yet. |
| Identify the correct attack | Watch for Tian Ying’s multi-kick spin: a flurry of rapid, circular kicks that travels toward you. |
| Deflect the spinning kicks | Parry this multi-kick attack with precise timing. Each successful deflect adds progress to the eye meter. |
| Fill the eye meter to 100% | Repeat the pattern, baiting out the same spin kicks and deflecting them until the ring around the eye icon is fully lit. |
| Finish the fight | Once the eye meter is full, you can safely push Tian Ying through the rest of phase two and into the final phase to kill him. |
The game does not spell out the condition in the UI, but the pattern is consistent: only that spin-kick string contributes to the meter. Other parries do not move the needle. If you kill Tian Ying too quickly without enough spin-kick parries, the meter will not reach 100% and Free Morph will remain locked.
Step 9: Confirm Free Morph unlock and handle bugged progress
With the eye meter filled and Tian Ying defeated in the Challenge, Free Morph is granted as a Mystic Skill tied to your character.
- The unlock is not always obvious mid-session; there may be no pop-up notification.
- Open the Mystic Skills menu after the fight and check Tian Ying’s entry to confirm that Free Morph now shows as learned rather than at 0%.
Some players report the eye meter stalling at a high percentage or the skill not appearing immediately despite a full meter. Relogging and repeating the fight once more often resolves this: exit to the main menu or desktop, restart the game, re-enter the Tian Ying Challenge, and fill the meter again. After the next clear, Free Morph usually appears in the Mystic Skills list.
Once unlocked, Free Morph can be slotted into your Mystic Skill bar like any other art. Upgrading it with Ebon Iron and Buddha's Tear Root turns it into a low-cost, low-cooldown launcher that pressures both shielded enemies and players, giving Tian Ying’s own style back to your character.
