Mountain regions sit at the center of several important progression systems in Where Winds Meet. Two stand out: the Mountain's Might Inner Way locked behind the Palace of Annals, and a time-sensitive encounter above the Path of Karma in Jadebrook Mountain.
This overview walks through what Mountain's Might actually does, how to obtain it, and how to reliably trigger the Jadebrook Mountain encounter that so many players miss on their first attempt.
What Mountain's Might Is and Why It Matters
Mountain's Might is an Inner Way (internal art) that supports spear play, specifically the Nameless Spear and its Qiankun's Lock Martial Arts Skill.
At its base level, Mountain's Might ties directly into Qiankun's Lock:
- Core effect: Qiankun's Lock applies the Endless Gale effect, which reduces Endurance cost on that skill by 20% for 5 seconds.
- Weapon pairing: It is designed for Nameless Spear and the Bellstrike – Splendor Martial Path.
Because Qiankun's Lock is a high-commitment attack, the Endurance discount from Endless Gale makes the Nameless Spear rotation smoother, especially in long solo fights where you are frequently dodging and charging skills.
How to Get Mountain's Might (Palace of Annals)
Mountain's Might is not learned from a simple tome; it is built up through comprehension gained from a set of Internal Art Chests inside the Palace of Annals location in Qinghe.
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Region | Qinghe, Palace of Annals |
| Content type | Side quest / campaign segment tied to the Palace of Annals |
| Number of chests | 5 Internal Art Chests |
| Comprehension gain | Each chest grants 20% Mountain's Might comprehension (5 × 20% = 100%) |
Only once all five chests are opened, and comprehension reaches 100%, is Mountain's Might fully unlocked for use.
The chests are integrated into the Palace of Annals questline itself rather than sitting as unrelated loot. As you work through that dungeon-like area, you move deeper into a multi-level structure filled with enemies, hidden mechanisms, and several chests that increment Mountain's Might by 20% each time. Some are in side rooms, others near elevator platforms or behind contraptions revealed by interacting with objects like bookshelves.
Expect a mix of combat and light stealth. Enemies in black garb patrol the corridors, and at one point, you discover a contraption behind a bookshelf that opens another path and another chest. By the time you clear the lower levels and ride the elevator segments, you should have seen Mountain's Might increase in 20% steps until it hits 100% and the Inner Way unlocks.
Mountain's Might Breakthrough Tiers and Effects
Once Mountain's Might is unlocked, it can be upgraded through Breakthrough Enhancements. Each tier adds an extra effect on top of the base Endless Gale cost reduction, at the cost of Inner Way Notes.
| Tier | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Extends the Long Wind effect from Qiankun's Lock to 7 seconds. |
| Tier 2 | Increases Bellstrike Attack, scaling with Solo Mode Level. |
| Tier 3 | Hitting a target with Root or Silence reduces Qiankun's Lock cooldown by 2 seconds, once per cast. |
| Tier 4 | While Long Wind is active, Sprint and Charged Skills cost an additional 10% less Endurance (for a total of 30% reduction). |
| Tier 5 | Increases Bellstrike Penetration by 6. |
| Tier 6 | Qiankun's Lock applies a Moving Mountain mark for 10 seconds; hitting the marked target restores 3 Endurance once per second. |
Collectively, these tiers turn Mountain's Might into a durable sustain tool for spear builds:
- Longer Long Wind and the Sprint/Charged Skill discount let you stay aggressive without running dry on Endurance.
- The cooldown reduction tied to Root/Silence rewards control-heavy setups.
- Moving Mountain ensures Endurance flows back during focused pressure on a single target.
How to Get Inner Way Notes for Mountain's Might
Breakthroughs require Inner Way Notes, obtained from several repeatable and seasonal activities rather than from the Palace of Annals itself.
- Seasonal events: Inner Way Note Chests drop from seasonal activities like Fresh Wind, New Year (also presented as Dawn to Dusk), and the Fireworks Festival (Fireworks Show) multiplayer event in Kaifeng, which runs at set evenings each week.
- Season Shop: Inner Way Note Chests are also purchasable for Jade Fish in the Season Shop via the main menu’s Season screen.
Kaifeng City vendor: Zhao Feiyan in Kaifeng City sells Inner Way Note Chests for in-game currencies.
Each higher tier of Mountain's Might costs more Notes than the previous one, so planning which Inner Ways to prioritize is important if you are spreading Notes across multiple builds.
Where the Palace of Annals Fits in the Qinghe Map
Palace of Annals sits in the Moonveil Mountain sub-region of Qinghe and functions both as a quest zone and a combat-heavy dungeon.
Within Qinghe, major sub-areas frame the journey toward it:
- Verdant Wilds to the south and west, with Bamboo Retreat, General's Shrine, and Northern Bamboo Grove.
- Moonveil Mountain to the east, anchored by Heaven's Pier, Peace Bell Tower, Crimson Cliff, and Palace of Annals deeper inland.
- Sundara Land further out, featuring locations like Mercyheart Monastery, Buddha Fort, Halo Peak, Bodhi Sea, and Path of Karma.
Palace of Annals itself appears as both a campaign location and a Fragment Chapter site within this broader Qinghe layout, linking to later Jianghu Legacy content like The Promised Light, which explicitly requires Palace of Annals and Bodhi Sea to be complete.
How to Trigger the Jadebrook Mountain Encounter at Path of Karma
Jadebrook Mountain in Sundara Land hosts the Path of Karma Landmark and a time-gated encounter that often refuses to spawn if approached too quickly. The encounter involves a white-robed outsider figure on the mountain road and is easy to miss if you simply follow the frightened NPC and wait a short moment.
The trigger relies on both real-world waiting and in-game time management. Handling both correctly makes the encounter far more consistent.
Triggering the Path of Karma encounter (method)
Step 1: Travel to the Path of Karma fast travel point in Jadebrook Mountain. Near this Landmark, speak to the NPC labelled Frightened Farmer. After the conversation, let him walk away up the nearby path.
Step 2: Do not immediately follow him all the way up the path, expecting the encounter to fire. Instead, leave the area entirely by using fast travel to a far-off region such as the Verdant Wilds around Bamboo Retreat or the Northern Vow Ruins.
Step 3: Stay away from Jadebrook Mountain for around 30 minutes of real-world time. During this window, you can freely explore, fight, or complete other content, as long as you avoid moving back into the trigger zone around Path of Karma.
Step 4: After roughly 30 minutes, fast travel back to the Path of Karma fast travel point. Do not run straight through it yet; instead, walk downwards along the road toward the crossroads below the Landmark and wait there, just outside the trigger radius.
Step 5: While waiting at that lower crossroads, advance in-game time by two full in-game days until you reach Shen hour on the second day. You can use rest or time-skipping functions as needed, but remain outside the trigger circle near the Landmark while the in-game days pass.
Step 6: Once you have reached Shen hour on the second in-game day, walk back up the path toward the Path of Karma fast travel location. As you approach or slightly pass it along the road, the encounter should finally trigger, placing the white-robed NPC further up the hill.
Step 7: Follow the road a bit higher until you see the white-robed NPC. Speak with him to lock the encounter in, then continue up the road to the two additional NPCs the quest points you to. After the dialogue here, the quest will instruct you to wait until a later time. Waiting until Yin hour and then returning to the initial stretch near Path of Karma allows you to find the white-robed NPC again, now weeping, and finish the conversation chain.
Jadebrook Mountain in the Wider Qinghe and Sundara Layout
Jadebrook Mountain sits within Sundara Land, sharing the region with locations such as Mercyheart Town, Mercyheart Monastery, Bloomveil Monastery, Finesteed Hamlet, Wildmane Ranch, and major combat campaigns at Halo Peak and Bodhi Sea.
Key landmarks and NPCs around Jadebrook Mountain include:
- Path of Karma: The Landmark tied to the time-gated encounter described above.
- Chai Sansheng: An NPC seen chopping wood near Path of Karma.
- Bodhi: An NPC surrounded by cats in Jadebrook Mountain.
Sundara Land as a whole mixes agricultural lowlands, riverside villages, and spiritual peaks such as Halo Peak and Buddha Fort. Jadebrook Mountain leans into the eerie, liminal side of this design, especially around Path of Karma and the related encounters like Fate Farewell that also key off weather and time-of-day conditions in the same region.
Working through Palace of Annals for Mountain's Might and handling the more finicky timing around Jadebrook Mountain's encounter both pull you deeper into Where Winds Meet's mountain design philosophy. Together they reward patient exploration: combing every level of a hidden complex for Internal Art chests, or stepping back from a trigger and letting in-game and real time roll forward so a stranger in white can finally appear on a wind-scoured road.
