Where Winds Meet Hidden Mountain (Version 2.0) Expansion Guide

The Hidden Mountain expansion launched with Where Winds Meet Version 2.0 on July 23, 2026, bringing a massive free update from developer Everstone Studio and publisher NetEase Games. Hidden Mountain contains four main areas and 14 sub-regions, with more than 2,000 meters of vertical exploration, spanning underwater Mohist ruins, underground labyrinths, mountain settlements, clockwork towers, and a mechanical city suspended above the clouds. Version 2.0 adds the Hidden Mountain region, the Changeless Heart campaign, Divinecraft puzzles, Celestial Seize interactions, Mohist Hill, the Qiongqi Artificers, Heavenwill Gauntlets, Skygrasp Rope Dart, more than 10 bosses, Tier 96 gear, and new launch rewards. This is the game’s first major expansion following the global launch in November 2025 and the Xbox release in June 2026.

Hidden Mountain is a sprawling, multi-dimensional “Eastern Steampunk” playground, featuring distinct areas – spanning underwater depths, underground palaces, towering peaks, and floating sky cities. The region sits north of Qinghe, sealed beneath heavy mist, with water routes below and suspended walkways above, where mechanical devices of iron and wood share space with maple groves and fields of flowers, while ancient ruins scattered through the fog trace the Mohists’ unfinished work from a thousand years ago. The aesthetic blends traditional wuxia environments with clockwork mechanisms and Mohist engineering, creating a unique vertical playground that rewards exploration with new oddities, puzzles, and secrets. Unlike previous regions, Hidden Mountain emphasizes movement skills and vertical traversal to navigate its layered environments.

To access Hidden Mountain, your character should be Lv. 32, though the guide recommends approaching the current Level 95 cap before attempting harder Hidden Mountain content. Access to Hidden Mountain begins in Kaifeng, where the unlock quest Yingying’s Invitation is long and story-driven. The region introduces new main story quests Parting Tale and Haven Astray, requiring completion of Kaifeng’s first chapter: New Arrival in Kaifeng to access.

Update to Version 2.0, then reach Lv.32 and complete Hidden Mountain Main Chapter 2: Haven Astray to fully open the Hidden Mountain region. The unlock sequence begins in Kaifeng, the central hub city where most players will have already completed the opening chapter. Hidden Mountain’s introduction begins with Yingying’s Invitation in Kaifeng and leads into the new Changeless Heart campaign, with the route including the Golden Escort Agency, a Lu Ban Lock, several river-crossing attempts, and a final entry into the mist-shrouded valley. The Changeless Heart campaign serves as the narrative spine of Version 2.0, weaving through the Mohist Hill faction, the ancient Qiongqi Artificers, and the mysteries of the region’s mechanical contraptions.

Once you meet the level requirement and complete the prerequisite story quests in Kaifeng, the Yingying’s Invitation quest will appear, guiding you northward from Qinghe into the fog. The quest involves solving environmental puzzles, traversing suspended walkways, and discovering the hidden entrance to Mohist Hill’s sanctuary. Completing Haven Astray not only unlocks the full region but also grants access to the new Rope Dart Martial Art and opens the path to joining the Mohist Hill sect.

Version 2.0 introduces Gauntlets, a fast close-range weapon built around punches, combinations, pressure, and burst damage. The new Gauntlet Discipline allows players to engage in ultra-close-quarters combat, execute lightning-fast combos, and deliver devastating, instant-burst damage to shatter enemy defenses. Heavenwill Gauntlets build momentum through the power of a hawk, with the fighter and hawk acting as one, while Skygrasp Rope Dart uses reach and mechanisms to snare targets at range. The Gauntlet’s fantasy draws from martial monk traditions and close-quarters brawling, emphasizing rapid strikes and pressure over traditional weapon reach.

Bamboocut Kite is a new Martial Art style that combines Gauntlets with a Rope Dart for close-range aggression and flexible repositioning. Players can switch between the Gauntlet’s relentless combo chains and the Rope Dart’s crowd control and spacing tools, creating a dynamic fighting style that adapts to both PvE encounters and PvP duels. Players can specialize into new builds using the Gauntlets, as new gear pieces and Inner Ways have also been added to the game to make for the best synergy. These close-quarters melee weapons are powered by the machinations of Mohist Hill, featuring fast but hard-hitting heavy attacks and a unique buff that mitigates crowd control effects.

How to Get the Heavenwill Gauntlets

Joining the Mohist Hill sect (Lv.10 plus Haven Astray) or visiting its Universal Love Shop unlocks the new Gauntlets weapon, and you can obtain the Gauntlet Martial Art Heavenwill Gauntlets by joining Mohist Hill or buying it from the Universal Love Shop. To get the Heavenswill Gauntlets, open up the Sect Shop, choose Mohist Hill, and then purchase the Gauntlets from that shop in exchange for 100 Reputation. A separate shop called Universal Love opens to Wanderers outside the sect as well, allowing players who prefer their current sect to still access the new weapon without switching affiliations. All members who join the Mohist Hill are given access to the Gauntlets upon joining the sect.

Mohist Hill is the new sect, a surviving branch of the Mohist Sect hidden beyond a suspended gate and waterfall north of Qinghe, whose disciples work quietly with mechanisms to help ordinary people, guided by the principle of Universal Love. Where Winds Meet Mohist Hill is a sect based on engineering, research, and craftsmanship, teaching players to explore Jianghu through mechanical knowledge, with its philosophy emphasizing Utility, Universal Love, and Non-Aggression. Hidden deep within the sea of clouds, this new sect is tailor-made for players who love crafting and construction, serving as the game’s first building-specialized sect whose disciples receive unique, unparalleled buffs to their architectural and mechanical crafting abilities.

Sect members begin as Apprentices and rise through Waterworks Master to Great Mohist by choosing a research focus, studying under a mentor, and publishing findings, with Chief candidates submitting construction data for blind review. Sect features include greatly increased blueprint limits in Free Construction, new server-wide Divinecraft crafting abilities, and a weekly Construction Material Support Pack based on standing. The main benefit of joining the Mohist Hill is the sect’s ability to increase blueprint storage and component limit during free construction, with this improvement in line with Mohist Hill’s philosophy of research and science, and all Mohist Hill members can permanently access Divinecraft, which allows you to enhance Wanderers across the server.

The update brings new world bosses including Ci & Cuo and the Ironheart Centipede, both designed around the region’s mechanical theme. To explore the new area, players will need to actively use movement skills, and ancient structures will present them with puzzles, mechanisms, and bosses with unusual, puppet-inspired designs, with each having its own fighting style and posing a serious threat. The Qiongqi Artificers, a mysterious faction tied to the region’s ancient engineering legacy, serve as recurring antagonists throughout the Changeless Heart campaign and supply many of the mechanical enemies and constructs you’ll encounter.

These bosses emphasize movement, positioning, and understanding mechanical attack patterns rather than pure stat checks. The Ironheart Centipede, for example, uses segmented hitboxes and environmental hazards tied to the region’s clockwork architecture, while Ci & Cuo function as a paired encounter requiring players to manage two threats simultaneously. Version 2.0 adds more than 10 bosses, populating the four main areas with both story-driven encounters and open-world challenges.

For new players arriving with Version 2.0, the progression path is more straightforward: complete the base-game story through Kaifeng’s opening chapter, level to 32, then immediately pivot into Hidden Mountain to experience the expansion content alongside the core game. Hidden Mountain continues the game’s free content-update model, with Where Winds Meet itself being a free-to-play open-world action RPG whose major regional updates expand the playable world without requiring players to purchase a conventional paid expansion.

Inner Ways, or Internal Arts, function as passive skills that grant bonuses in Where Winds Meet, providing various effects that either grant passive buffs or trigger when performing certain actions. Your character can equip up to four Inner Ways at the same time, with all of their effects stacking. The Inner Ways upgrading system works on tiers; as you unlock an Inner Way, it’ll be at Tier 1, and whenever you upgrade it, you’ll reach Tier 2, Tier 3, and so on, requiring Tips for each Inner Way to progress. Each Inner Way is labeled with a Path that it primarily synergizes with, enabling new mechanics and further enhancing the Martial Arts of the same Path.

New gear pieces and Inner Ways have also been added to the game to make for the best synergy with the Gauntlet and Rope Dart weapons. Players returning to Where Winds Meet after a hiatus should focus on upgrading Inner Ways that align with their chosen weapon Path, prioritizing Tier 4 breakthoughs for their core four equipped arts before spreading resources. The Inner Way Conversion system allows you to transfer all existing upgrades from one Inner Way to another that you plan to use, though this can only be done a limited number of times each season.

Myth: Hidden Mountain Is a Paid Expansion

Hidden Mountain was released as part of the free Version 2.0 update rather than as a separately purchased expansion. Hidden Mountain continues the game’s free content-update model, with Where Winds Meet itself being a free-to-play open-world action RPG whose major regional updates expand the playable world without requiring players to purchase a conventional paid expansion. All content — the region, Mohist Hill sect, Gauntlets, bosses, and Changeless Heart campaign — arrives at no cost to existing players and newcomers alike.

Myth: You Must Join Mohist Hill to Use Gauntlets

A separate shop called Universal Love opens to Wanderers outside the sect as well, and you can obtain the Gauntlet Martial Art Heavenwill Gauntlets by joining Mohist Hill or buying it from the Universal Love Shop. To get the Heavenswill Gauntlets, open up the Sect Shop, choose Mohist Hill, and then purchase the Gauntlets from that shop in exchange for 100 Reputation — you do not have to be a part of any specific Sect, or the Mohist Hill Sect, to purchase the weapon. Players can keep their existing sect affiliation and still access the new combat style.

Myth: Hidden Mountain Is Only for High-Level Players

To access Hidden Mountain, your character should be Lv. 32, making the expansion accessible to mid-level players rather than exclusively endgame content. While the guide recommends approaching the current Level 95 cap before attempting harder Hidden Mountain content, the opening quests and initial exploration zones are designed for players in the mid-30s who have completed Kaifeng’s story arc. The region’s difficulty scales across its four main areas, with the underwater and underground zones serving as entry points and the floating sky city representing the endgame challenge.