The Midnight Blades in Where Winds Meet are built around one idea: your worth is proven by a kill. That idea sits at the center of their initiation, where Icchantika hands you a token and orders you to “stain it with blood.” The game is not very explicit about what to do next, which is why many players get stuck on the Trial by Blood step.
This walkthrough explains, in simple terms, what “stain the token with blood” actually means, how to turn that token into an Annihilation Token, and how that ties into joining and ranking up inside the Midnight Blades.
Where the Midnight Blades initiation starts
The Midnight Blades initiation sits in Qinghe, at Halo Peak in the Sundara Lands. You can trigger it very early on, as soon as you have access to sects (level 10), although the full PvP loop only opens at level 22.
Step 1: Travel to Halo Peak in the northern part of Qinghe and move toward the cliffs around the boundary stone. On one of the rocky ledges, you will find a Seriously Injured Swordsman lying on the ground.
Step 2: Talk to the swordsman. In his final lines, he explains he was cut down by the Midnight Blades, and after the dialogue, he dies.
Step 3: After he dies, turn around and follow the new objective marker. It leads along a visible trail of blood to a clearing filled with corpses.
Step 4: Walk into the center of this “kill field.” Your objective marker shifts upward to a stone outcrop where Icchantika, Ferryman of the Midnight Blades, sits cross‑legged.
Step 5: Talk to Icchantika and choose the dark‑hearted dialogue: “My heart is of the Asura Heart” (or “My heart is that of an Asura,” depending on your localization). This is the key line that flags you as a potential Midnight Blades recruit.
After that, Icchantika hands you a token and sets the condition: stain it with blood.
What “stain the token with blood” actually means
The phrase sounds like a puzzle, but the requirement is very literal: you must personally kill something while you carry the token. Once you do, the token changes into an Annihilation Token, which is the proof Icchantika wants.
There are two practical ways to satisfy this condition:
- Kill any standard enemy (mob, beast, or hostile NPC).
- Kill another player in PvP.
Both count. You do not need to perform a special finisher or use a particular weapon; the only rule is that the kill must be credited to you while the token sits in your inventory.
Step 1: Leave Icchantika’s platform and look for any nearby hostile creatures or mobs you can safely defeat, or queue into PvP if you prefer to meet the requirement that way.
Step 2: Defeat a single enemy. As soon as the kill registers, the quest updates, and the bloodless token in your bag is replaced with the Annihilation Token.
Turning in the Annihilation Token and completing the trial
Once the token has been “stained” and transformed, you need to return to Icchantika and formally accept the sect’s karmic burden.
Step 1: Head back to Halo Peak and climb up to Icchantika’s perch above the corpse‑strewn clearing.
Step 2: Talk to him again and choose the line that commits you: “Inherit karmic burden, join the Sect.”
Step 3: When prompted to hand over proof, select the Annihilation Token from the dialogue options and submit it.
Handing over the Annihilation Token finishes the Trial by Blood. At that moment, you are officially a member of the Midnight Blades, and you unlock the sect’s signature dual‑blade Martial Art, Infernal Twinblades.
Minimum level and PvP requirements around the trial
The Trial by Blood itself has no explicit level gate beyond reaching Halo Peak and surviving a basic fight. However, the wider Midnight Blades loop is heavily tied to player‑versus‑player combat:
- Sects become available at level 10.
- Core PvP systems unlock at level 22.
- Weekly sect tasks later on ask you to defeat other players.
That means you can complete the initiation and stain the token with blood very early with a simple PvE kill, but progressing ranks and meeting Karma requirements will eventually push you into PvP queues like 1v1 arenas and Perception Forest once you reach higher levels.
Common pitfalls when trying to stain the token with blood
Several small details trip players up during this step. These are the most frequent edge cases:
- Forgetting to carry the token: Make sure the token Icchantika gave you is still in your inventory when you score the kill. If you discarded or used the wrong token, the transformation to Annihilation Token will not trigger.
- Confusing it with later arena tasks: Some Midnight Blades rank‑up objectives ask you to “slay opponents in the arena” (1v1 PvP) and track progress with counters like 0/20. That requirement is separate from the initial “stain the token with blood” step. For the first trial, a single kill on any enemy is enough.
- Using the wrong NPC: The true Ferryman sits above the kill field near Halo Peak. Other “Midnight‑themed” NPCs around jails or towns can belong to different sect paths. If you do not see the Asura‑heart dialogue or the corpse field, you are not with the right recruiter.
- Handing over the wrong token: Giving back the Rogue Token instead of an Annihilation Token steers you toward Nine Mortal Ways. If you want Midnight Blades, only surrender the token that has been marked by a kill.
What comes after the Trial by Blood
Once you have joined, Midnight Blades progression shifts from a single bloody act to an ongoing cycle of violence and reputation.
Open the Sect menu and then the Status tab to see your current Midnight Blades rank and the objectives required for the next one. These can include:
- Defeating players in PvP to earn Karma Points.
- Gathering specific rank‑up items.
- Participating in sect‑specific events such as the Sufferer’s Trial.
When you complete the listed tasks, your token evolves through different colors and names instead of traditional sect titles, tracking your climb from Novice Cultivator up toward Sufferer and Chief Elder.
Staining the first token with blood is only the prologue. Once that trial is over, your kills begin to matter for weekly quotas, Karmic standings, and even temporary leadership of the sect.
If the objective panel says “Stain the Token with Blood” near Halo Peak, the solution is straightforward: keep Icchantika’s token in your bag, kill anything you can reliably defeat, and return to hand in the Annihilation Token. From there, the Midnight Blades’ harsher PvP trials—and their rewards—start to unfold.
