Dark Surge sits in an odd place inside Where Winds Meet. It is important enough to have its own achievement, but the game does very little hand-holding around where the related fragments come from or how they appear inside the world. For many players, the first clear link between Dark Surge and the wider game world comes during the early Lost Chapter quests in Qinghe.
Dark Surge in Where Winds Meet and the “The First Finding” achievement
Dark Surge is treated as its own story track. The achievement “The First Finding” unlocks once a Dark Surge story is opened, and the description is simple: unlock a Dark Surge story. There is no requirement to complete that story, defeat a boss under a time limit, or finish a specific region; the trigger is the first time one of these stories is actually unlocked.
These stories are not restricted to a single quest category. They can surface off the back of:
- Main story missions
- Side missions
- Exploration sequences that behave more like dungeons
That spread is what makes Dark Surge fragments feel opaque at first glance. One player can see an early unlock while following an obvious quest chain; another might reach the same point hours later by exploring a different route through Qinghe.
How Dark Surge fragments relate to Dark Surge stories
Dark Surge fragments are the tangible pieces tied to those stories. They are not a conventional currency like coins, and they are not tracked like gear or crafting materials. Instead, they act more like narrative keys.
Collecting fragments advances specific Dark Surge storylines. When enough have been gathered for a given thread, that story unlocks fully and counts toward the “The First Finding” achievement the first time it happens. From a trophy perspective, that unlock is what matters; from a lore perspective, fragments are what build out these hidden narratives in the background.
Fragments can be obtained in several ways:
- As part of scripted events inside longer quest chains
- As rewards for talking to particular spirits or entities
- As interaction results at the end of small, self-contained vignettes
Qinghe, Lost Chapter quests, and why they matter for Dark Surge
Qinghe, the first major region, hides two early Lost Chapter quests that set the tone: “Mysterious Colossus” and “Gleaming Abyss.” Both are classified as Lost Chapter Quests under the Jianghu Legacy banner, and both are flagged as Fragment Chapter Quests in the game’s quest structure.
| Quest | Type | Region / Location | Key Requirement | Link to Dark Surge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mysterious Colossus | Lost Chapter Quest | Qinghe – Desolate Woods | Initiates the cave route and unlocks access to Gleaming Abyss | Prerequisite path toward Dark Surge content in Gleaming Abyss |
| Gleaming Abyss | Lost Chapter Quest | Qinghe – Moonveil Mountain | Requires completion of Mysterious Colossus | Contains a clear Dark Surge Fragment pickup |
These two quests are worth prioritizing if Dark Surge stories are a focus. They carve out a distinct chain that leads into a cave complex under Moonveil Mountain, with combat trials, platforming, and discrete narrative beats. Inside that complex, one Dark Surge Fragment can be picked up directly.
Mysterious Colossus quest overview (Qinghe – Desolate Woods)
Mysterious Colossus is the starting point. It sits in the Desolate Woods area of Qinghe and is marked as a Lost Chapter quest without a traditional NPC pickup.
The objectives move in a straight line:
| Step | Objective | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Approach the Mysterious Colossus | Head southwest from the Haunted Village Boundary Stone into the fog until the colossus marker appears. |
| 2 | Enter the Courtyard | Reach the main courtyard space beneath or near the colossus. |
| 3 | Investigate anomalies in the surroundings | Interactable objects and layout clues are used to progress; you are looking for an oddity in how the mats are arranged. |
| 4 | Find deer tracks with Wind Sense | Use the Wind Sense exploration skill to highlight tracks that lead away from the courtyard. |
| 5 | Reach the path’s end | Follow the tracks through the fog until they terminate at a blocked cave entrance. |
| 6 | Decipher how to open the stone door | Use the Mystic Skill Meridian Touch to freeze two worshippers in place when the statues rotate. |
| 7 | Enter the cave | Interact with the central statue to complete the ritual and open the door into the cavern system. |
The most opaque step here is the courtyard puzzle. The solution relies on a small interaction: the single empty floor mat in the courtyard can be used with an “Imitate” action. That places the character in the missing position for the ritual, which then allows the rest of the puzzle sequence to play out.
The gate puzzle at the stone door is where the game expects you to have invested a little into Mystic Skills. Meridian Touch, once acquired, can immobilize the two worshippers long enough for them to effectively become “statues” in the correct alignment when the stone figures rotate. Once this is done, an offering at the central statue opens the path into the cave that leads toward Gleaming Abyss.
Gleaming Abyss quest overview (Qinghe – Moonveil Mountain)
Gleaming Abyss is the direct continuation of Mysterious Colossus. It takes place deeper inside the cave beneath Moonveil Mountain, and is also a Lost Chapter Quest. Progress in this quest is tracked inside the Exploration → Qinghe → Sentient Beings category, which also includes Antiques, Boundary Stones, and a set of 13 chests in the same area.
Liu Qingyi appears as the notable NPC inside this quest. The enemies encountered are Glorious Dream Puppets, Ashen Dream Puppets, and the area culminates in a boss fight against The Void King.
| Segment | Objective | Key Details |
|---|---|---|
| Entrance | Press deeper into the cave | Pick up a boundary stone; be aware that stepping into water inflicts the Toxic Waters status with rapid damage. |
| Approach | Trace the singing to the stone coffin | The sound leads to a coffin that triggers three sub-objectives when approached. |
| Sub‑quest 1 | Deer Shadow | Water’s Edge | To the left of the coffin path, interact with the spirits present in that area. |
| Sub‑quest 2 | Deer Shadow | Drum’s Top | To the right of the path, use a fire arrow on a darkened wall patch to reveal a third candle and spawn stepping platforms. |
| Sub‑quest 3 | Deer Shadow | Vine’s Depths | Crouch into vine‑covered corridors with branches, collect chests, and interact with another spirit deeper inside. |
| Mid‑section | Investigate the coffin and overcome the peril | With the three Deer Shadow tasks done, 접근 to the coffin unlocks further progression and combat waves. |
| Lower area | Find a way out | Dropping near a chest spawns enemy waves; Sun Buqi’s Notes II on a table contain a Stone Gate Key used in a statue. |
| Bridge and door | Cross the narrow bridge and open the deer‑skull door | Defeat a single enemy on the bridge; use a fire arrow to drop a plank, then purify antlers and place them with the skull. |
| Boss | Defeat The Void King | Beat the boss to open a blue mist gate labeled as fog. |
| After fog | Head toward the glowing tree and inspect | Near a tree with luminous blue leaves, interact with a Sense Dream Echo spirit to obtain a Dark Surge Fragment. |
| Final route | Continue past lethal crystals and complete the ritual | Loot Bitter Seasons from a chest in a small house, activate a statue to open the way, and use Deerwell Spring to finish the quest. |
The cave layout is dense but structured. Toxic water sections define the outer edges of the playable space; most navigable routes are stone paths, improvised platforms, or vine tunnels. Many of the chests tie into the broader Qinghe exploration tracking, but Sun Buqi’s Notes II and the Stone Gate Key form a self-contained logic chain for this specific quest.
The Void King fight also ties into a separate achievement, “Victory in the Abyss,” which demands that the boss be defeated within 60 seconds. That requirement is separate from the Dark Surge thread; accessing Dark Surge content here does not require meeting the time limit, only winning the fight and pushing through to the fog gate.
Where a Dark Surge Fragment appears in Gleaming Abyss
The most explicit early Dark Surge Fragment pickup appears immediately after The Void King is defeated and the mist gate is taken deeper into the dreamlike space beyond.
The sequence from the fog gate looks like this:
- Enter the blue mist gate labeled as fog after the boss arena.
- Follow the new path until a tree with glowing blue leaves comes into view.
- Near this tree, engage with a Sense Dream Echo spirit standing close by.
- On interaction, the character receives a Dark Surge Fragment.
The fragment is not hidden behind another combat encounter or puzzle. The key is simply to recognize that the Sense Dream Echo spirit is interactable and that finishing the boss is not the end of the area’s narrative content. Many players leave a dungeon space after a boss out of habit; in Gleaming Abyss, that habit can delay the first encounter with Dark Surge.
Using the in‑game wiki to track Dark Surge fragments
The game ships with an internal wiki that can be searched directly from inside the UI. That tool is more capable than it initially looks. Searching on the in‑game wiki for terms like “Dark Surge Fragment” brings up a structured list of known fragments, with each entry including its context and a visual reference.
For players struggling to remember which fragments are tied to which activities, this internal reference becomes a checklist. It captures the fragments that drop in dungeons, those that sit on the ground, and the ones that come from side conversations with wandering NPCs.
One important caveat: route layouts and fragment positions are not always identical between platforms. Locations that hold fragments on an earlier PC build might be shifted or fully relocated on consoles, especially in the early Qinghe map. The in‑game wiki remains the authoritative baseline for the version currently running on the device.
How Dark Surge progress fits alongside Qinghe’s other achievements
Dark Surge interacts with a broader achievement framework that pushes players to fully explore Qinghe. Several objectives sit alongside “The First Finding”:
| Achievement | Trigger | Relation to Dark Surge |
|---|---|---|
| The First Finding | Unlock a Dark Surge story | Dark Surge fragments and events underpin this; the Gleaming Abyss fragment is one early path. |
| The Final Destiny – Qinghe | Unlock the ending of Qinghe’s main story | Encourages enough side content completion that Dark Surge opportunities are commonly encountered. |
| Every Inch Covered – Qinghe | Collect 40 chests in Qinghe | Several of the Gleaming Abyss chests count toward this and sit near Dark Surge‑related content. |
| Quick on the Uptake – Qinghe | Collect 150 Oddities | Oddities are separate from Dark Surge fragments, but the same “search every corner” mindset helps with both. |
None of these achievements explicitly reference Dark Surge, yet the design pushes players into the same corners of the map where fragments are most often hidden. Chasing full exploration in Qinghe, clearing both Mysterious Colossus and Gleaming Abyss, and following up on unusual spirits or echoes naturally increases Dark Surge progress without any explicit grind.
Dark Surge remains deliberately opaque, but its footprints are clear once the early Qinghe cave chain is understood. Mysterious Colossus opens the cavern route; Gleaming Abyss layers in puzzles, exploration, and The Void King; and just beyond that fight, a Sense Dream Echo near a luminous tree quietly hands over a Dark Surge Fragment. Paired with the in‑game wiki search for “Dark Surge Fragment,” that route gives a concrete starting point for anyone trying to untangle how these stories fit into Where Winds Meet’s wider web of quests and achievements.
