Cao Sheng is a low-profile NPC in Kaifeng who quietly sells one of the strongest general-purpose Inner Ways in Where Winds Meet: Seasonal Edge. His shop never shows up on the map, his position can shift inside the building, and his key item is buried behind a dialogue option that is easy to ignore.
Cao Sheng location in Kaifeng (Fairgrounds)
Cao Sheng runs the Studio of Calligraphy in the Fairgrounds district on the eastern side of Kaifeng City. The simplest way to reach him is to use the Grand Imperial Temple Boundary Stone in Kaifeng, then approach on foot.
Step 1: Teleport to the Grand Imperial Temple Boundary Stone in the eastern part of Kaifeng City.
Step 2: From the Boundary Stone, walk straight ahead toward the Fairgrounds area, then go down the nearby staircase.
Step 3: At the bottom of the stairs, look for one of the first buildings to the southeast — this is Cao Sheng’s Studio of Calligraphy.
His storefront looks like a standard calligraphy and painting shop, with scrolls and artwork displayed. The game does not label the shop with an NPC or vendor icon, so you have to recognize it by its position relative to the Grand Imperial Temple and the Fairgrounds architecture rather than by UI markers.
What to do if Cao Sheng is not at the front of the shop
Sometimes Cao Sheng is not standing at the front counter, which makes it seem like the shop is empty.
Step 1: Enter the Studio of Calligraphy through the main door and walk past the front room.
Step 2: Continue toward the back of the building to reach the inner room.
Step 3: Look for Cao Sheng sitting in the back room; interact with him there to access his dialogue and stores.
His presence can effectively “switch” between the front and back areas, so always check the rear room before assuming he has despawned or you are at the wrong building.
Cao Sheng’s shop options and currencies
Interacting with Cao Sheng surfaces two distinct paths that matter for different types of players:
- Normal store: A visible shop list that sells artwork and decoration items for housing, purchased with regular coin currency.
- Special treasure: A hidden interaction branch that unlocks Seasonal Edge: Page purchases, bought with Echo Jade.
Only the second path advances the Seasonal Edge Inner Way, so it is important not to stop at the normal store screen if you are here for combat power rather than home décor.
How to unlock Seasonal Edge from Cao Sheng
Seasonal Edge is a Legendary Inner Way tied entirely to Cao Sheng’s “special treasure” dialogue. Unlocking it is transactional rather than quest-based: you buy a full set of tome pages with Echo Jade.
Step 1: Talk to Cao Sheng and proceed past his introductory lines until the dialogue options appear.
Step 2: Ignore the option that opens his regular shop. Instead, choose the option that asks about a special treasure.
Step 3: After he mentions the treasure, select the follow-up option to inspect or take a look at it, which opens a separate “special treasure” store page.
Step 4: On this hidden shop screen, purchase every copy of Seasonal Edge: Page he offers.
Cao Sheng sells ten pages of the Seasonal Edge tome in total. Each page costs 500 Echo Jades, for a combined price of 5000 Echo Jades. Buying the entire set automatically unlocks the Seasonal Edge Inner Way for your character.
Seasonal Edge: Page is only sold for Echo Jade, not coins or other “green money” variants. If you lack Echo Jade, the special store will still show the items, but you will be unable to complete the purchase sequence until you return with enough currency.
Farming enough Echo Jade for Seasonal Edge
Echo Jade is the main constraint on how quickly you can claim Seasonal Edge. The 5000 Echo Jade total represents a meaningful investment, especially early on, so it usually requires focused currency gathering rather than a single session.
Echo Jade comes from several repeatable activities:
- Exploration chests: Opening chests out in the world is one of the most reliable ways to accumulate Echo Jade gradually as you roam.
- Exploration objectives: Completing region exploration content also contributes, often bundling Echo Jade alongside other rewards.
- Quests and side content: Many quests and optional activities provide Echo Jade payouts on completion.
In practice, you will usually buy a few Seasonal Edge pages, return to open more chests or clear more content, then come back to Cao Sheng to finish the set once you hit the 5000 Echo Jade mark.
Seasonal Edge Inner Way effects and role in builds
Seasonal Edge is classified as a Legendary Internal Art on the General path. It is not locked to a specific weapon style, which makes it flexible across many different builds.
Its core effect is simple: after you cast a Dual-Weapon Skill, you gain one of four offensive buffs, each themed around the “Four Seasons” motif.
| Possible Seasonal Edge buff | Effect |
|---|---|
| Heart of Four Seasons | Increases Critical Rate by 8%. |
| Will of Four Seasons | Increases Affinity Rate by 4%. |
| Wound of Four Seasons | Increases Physical Damage Bonus by 8%. |
| Sound of Four Seasons | Increases all Attribute Attack Bonuses by 8%. |
Because it fires on Dual-Weapon Skill use and always grants an offensive effect, Seasonal Edge behaves as a universal damage amplifier that can sit alongside more specialized Inner Ways. It fits naturally on dual-blade setups and pairs well with a wide range of high-frequency skill rotations.
Seasonal Edge breakthrough tiers and upgrading
Like other Inner Ways, Seasonal Edge gains additional power through breakthrough tiers. Upgrading improves both its uptime and its chance to provide multiple buffs instead of just one.
| Tier | Breakthrough bonus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Extends the duration of the bonus attributes to 12 seconds. |
| 2 | Further increases Physical Attack, scaling with Solo Mode Level. |
| 3 | Adds a 20% chance to gain two random bonuses at once. |
| 4 | Reduces Seasonal Edge’s cooldown by 5 seconds, with this reduction triggering at most once every 25 seconds. |
| 5 | Grants an additional 2.8% Physical Damage Bonus. |
| 6 | Introduces a 15% chance to gain three bonuses and a 5% chance to gain all four simultaneously. |
These upgrades turn Seasonal Edge from a simple one-buff proc into a potential multi-buff engine with much higher coverage, especially at later tiers where triple or full four-buff activations become possible.
To start upgrading Seasonal Edge, your character must first reach Solo Mode Level 4, also referred to as Level 4 Roaming. After that threshold, upgrades require Seasonal Edge: Notes, which are obtained through Internal Art advancement systems such as the Tips Exchange. Feeding Notes into Seasonal Edge increases its tier and unlocks the bonuses listed in the table.
Why Cao Sheng and Seasonal Edge are worth the detour
Cao Sheng’s shop itself is modest, with housing décor in the normal store and a single Inner Way hidden behind a conversation branch. The reason players seek him out is that Seasonal Edge provides a powerful, path-agnostic offensive backbone that works on many different builds throughout the game.
Once you know to start from the Grand Imperial Temple Boundary Stone, head down the Fairgrounds stairs, check the back room when he is not visible, and always choose to ask about his special treasure, finding Cao Sheng and unlocking Seasonal Edge becomes a straightforward, if Echo Jade–intensive, stop on any serious Kaifeng run.
