If you’re trying to join Nine Mortal Ways in Where Winds Meet and you’ve already messed up both Qinghe encounters and finished the Kaifeng Martial Hall rope dart quest… only to be told to “meet in Ghostlight Market” with no NPC in sight – yeah, you’re not alone.
Right now, the game heavily teases multiple ways to join Nine Mortal Ways, but only some of them actually lead to a working sect join in the current build. Others are mostly lore + weapon and leave players thinking they missed something.
This guide breaks down:
- Every known way to join Nine Mortal Ways
- What the Kaifeng Martial Hall / Skill Theft route really does
- How Ghostlight Market actually works and why you can’t find the elder
- Whether you’re locked out on that character if you failed everything
All Known Ways to Join Nine Mortal Ways (Overview)
Right now, there are three big “paths” tied to Nine Mortal Ways:
- Qinghe encounter chain – fake elder / justice route
- Midnight Blades cross-sect route in Qinghe
- Kaifeng route – Martial Hall infiltration + Ghostlight Market arc
Only the early Qinghe choices are currently confirmed to cleanly result in joining Nine Mortal Ways on a fresh character. The Kaifeng route is more complicated and, for players in your exact situation, doesn’t finish the join yet.
Let’s go through them one by one.
Route 1 – Qinghe “Justice vs Trickster” Encounters (Main Early Join Path)
In Qinghe, the game quietly gives you chances to side with or against Nine Mortal Ways long before Kaifeng:
- You meet victims of Nine Mortal Ways through Well of Heaven / other justice-leaning quests.
- You’ll hear about Nine Mortal Ways agents operating around rural Qinghe and shady dealings in markets and ranches.
- Depending on your choices, you can support justice sects (like Well of Heaven) or slide toward trickery and deception, aligning with Nine Mortal Ways later.
Most full sect overviews explain Nine Mortal Ways as a proper, joinable sect with all the usual perks: reputation system, sect shop, “fun point” mechanics, and the Mortal Rope Dart weapon identity.
But here’s the catch:
If you join a different sect early (Well of Heaven, Silver Needle, etc.) and burn your Nine Mortal Ways encounter by making the “wrong” choices, you’ve likely lost this straightforward route for that character.
- They already belonged to another sect during a Nine Mortal Ways chance
- Chose the wrong option later
- Both early pathways were effectively closed
On that character, you will not be able to use the “simple Qinghe invite” path anymore.
Route 2 – Midnight Blades Cross-Route (Halo Peak)
There’s also a route involving Midnight Blades, another sect in Qinghe centered around assassinations and ambushes. Some weapon and sect guides mention that Nine Mortal Ways, Midnight Blades, and other sects are interconnected, and that some martial arts can be unlocked either by infiltrating or by joining the relevant sect.
Typical pattern:
- Find Midnight Blades content around Halo Peak in southern Qinghe.
- You complete their related quests and get a chance to join them or use the route to pivot to another trickster-aligned sect.
- For Nine Mortal Ways, your decisions here can reinforce or cancel your chance to join.
Again, if you:
- Killed Nine Mortal Ways agents,
- Joined another sect first, or
- Resolved these encounters “against” Nine Mortal Ways…
…this route is already gone for that character as well.
So if you:
- Were already in a sect once, and
- Picked wrong options around Nine Mortal Ways,
you’ve basically burned Qinghe route #1 + the Midnight Blades-adjacent route. That’s how players end up in your exact situation: already in Kaifeng, hoping the city content will “save” their Nine Mortal Ways run.
Route 3 – Kaifeng Martial Hall & The Art of Skill Theft (What It Actually Does)
Once you reach Kaifeng, you eventually discover the Nine Mortal Ways Martial Hall in the south of the city near South Gate Avenue. Multiple guides agree this area is used for:
- The Art of Skill Theft side quest
- Unlocking the Mortal Rope Dart martial art via Skill Theft + Disguise
Step-by-step: What the Martial Hall quest really is
The Art of Skill Theft questline (Kaifeng exploration) plays out roughly like this:
- Get blocked at the Martial Hall gate
- You try to enter, a guard stops you.
- A Mysterious Elder appears and basically says, “You need disguise and trickery.”
- Unlock Disguise with Wuyan
- Go to Lin’s Cosmetics in the Fairgrounds area, talk to Wuyan, and complete Disguise: Veil of Love plus a couple of makeup commissions to reach Makeup Lv. 2.
- Steal a disciple’s identity
- Near the hall, draw the portrait of a drunk Nine Mortal Ways disciple (Muddle) sitting close by.
- Return to Wuyan and use the portrait to disguise yourself as Muddle.
- Fake a Core Disciple token
- Re-enter in disguise, get stopped by another disciple asking for a Core Disciple Token.
- Use Wind Sense on a disciple named Tiancai in a nearby house, locate the token in his inventory, then “Ask Nicely” to get it.
- Confront Elder Tian inside
- Go into the inner hall, talk to Elder Tian, and run a Skill Theft miniggame to learn the Mortal Rope Dart martial art.
- Finish in the Martial Hall backyard
- Exit into the backyard and talk to the Mysterious Elder again to complete the quest and receive your rewards.
After finishing the Skill Theft quest, the elder says something like:
“Nine Mortal Ways could use people like you. Let’s meet again for a drink in Ghostlight Market.”
That line makes it sound like this is a backup recruitment route.
But as of the current patch, this does not actually flag you as a Nine Mortal Ways disciple and no clear follow-up join quest appears.
Instead, what this route guarantees is:
- You get the full Mortal Rope Dart martial art through Skill Theft
- You unlock deeper Nine Mortal Ways lore around disguise, pranks, and Kaifeng mischief
- You’re nudged toward Ghostlight Market, which is their secret hub
So if you did:
- Qinghe routes wrong
- Joined another sect earlier
- Completed Art of Skill Theft in Kaifeng
…you have Mortal Rope Dart and the lore, but still don’t have a working sect join quest on that character.
Ghostlight Market: How It Really Works (And Why You Don’t See the Elder)
The elder tells you to “meet in Ghostlight Market,” but the game never clearly explains how Ghostlight Market works or when it’s fully unlocked.
How to actually reach Ghostlight Market
There are two main ways to reach Ghostlight Market:
- Coffin shop route (Forsaken Quarter, Kaifeng)
- Go to the Coffin Shop in Kaifeng’s Forsaken Quarter.
- Change time to Zi Hour (night).
- Interact with the coffin to trigger a cutscene that dumps you in Mask Cave, then follow the path into Ghostlight Market.
- Activate the fast travel landmark there.
- “Bounty Trouble” Worldly Affairs quest route
- Complete the Bounty Trouble sidequest, which can kidnap you and drag you into Ghostlight Market earlier.
- This lets you visit before hitting Kaifeng in the main story.
Once discovered, the market becomes a proper hub under the city.
Two versions of Ghostlight Market
Ghostlight Market has two states based on time of day:
- Normal Market (between You and Mao hours)
- Merchants, NPCs, sidequests, and Jianghu content
- Tied into Nine Mortal Ways’ black market economy
- Haunted / Nether Mist Market (Mao hour)
- Thick mist, spectral soldiers
- Wind Sense is disabled
- Used for the “March of the Dead” Jianghu Legacy quest, with Nine Mortal Ways lore and bosses like Zhu Yousheng
You can toggle the state by changing time while physically in Ghostlight Market.
So where is the elder?
That’s the problem:
Players who have:
- Reached Ghostlight Market
- Cleared Bounty Trouble
- Unlocked and finished March of the Dead
- Talked to every NPC in both day and Nether versions
…still don’t find the Martial Hall elder waiting “for that drink.”
That strongly suggests one of three things:
- The Kaifeng elder line is just flavor text hinting at the sect’s Ghostlight roots
- The intended follow-up recruit quest is bugged or not enabled in the global version yet
- The actual Nine Mortal Ways recruitment trigger is still elsewhere, and the elder’s “meet in Ghostlight Market” line doesn’t create a new route for players who already burned Qinghe
Right now, no verified guide shows a complete “failed both Qinghe routes → Kaifeng + Ghostlight → join Nine Mortal Ways” flow. Guides mention Kaifeng infiltration for Rope Dart and describe Nine Mortal Ways as based in Ghostlight Market, but they stop short of showing a working backup join quest after lockout.
So if you’re standing in Ghostlight Market, talking to everyone, and nothing triggers?
It’s not you.
The quest simply doesn’t exist (yet) in the way the elder’s dialogue makes it sound.
Are You Completely Locked Out of Nine Mortal Ways on That Character?
Short answer: in practice, yes – for now.
Based on everything we can see right now:
- Working, confirmed entry routes for Nine Mortal Ways rely on earlier choices in Qinghe, before you fully commit to another sect
- The Kaifeng Martial Hall quest is primarily a Skill Theft route to Mortal Rope Dart, not a clean “third chance” join method
- The Ghostlight Market tie-in gives you lore, quests like Bounty Trouble and March of the Dead, and interactions with Nine Mortal Ways disciples – but not a reliable “you are now a disciple” flag if you already burned the original chances
Community threads, including the exact situation you described (elder says “meet me in Ghostlight Market”, but no elder spawns), all converge on the same reality:
As of the current patch, there is no proven way to salvage Nine Mortal Ways membership if you:
- Joined another sect first, and
- Failed both early Nine Mortal Ways-related encounters in Qinghe.
So yes – that character is effectively locked out from formally joining Nine Mortal Ways right now.
What You Can Do Next (Realistic Options)
1. Accept the “Rope Dart + Lore” Route on This Character
On your current character, you do still get:
- The full Mortal Rope Dart martial art via Skill Theft
- Access to Ghostlight Market content, including March of the Dead
- Lots of Nine Mortal Ways flavor, disciples, and story beats
What you don’t get is:
- The sect UI page for Nine Mortal Ways
- Sect commands / errands and dedicated Fun Point reputation loop
- Sect-specific shop cosmetic progression
If you’re okay treating Nine Mortal Ways as a weapon + lore faction rather than a formal allegiance, you can keep playing normally.
2. Start a New Character Specifically to Join Nine Mortal Ways
If you truly want to live the full griefer / trickster fantasy, the safest route is:
- Roll a new character
- Rush through the early game to Qinghe
- Avoid joining any other sect
- Prioritize Nine Mortal Ways-leaning choices in:
- Scams / victim quests
- Halo Peak / Midnight Blades-adjacent content
- Any encounter clearly labeled as involving Nine Mortal Ways agents or victims
- Follow future guides that explicitly show “you become a disciple here” with screenshots of the sect UI, not just speculation
That’s currently the only guaranteed way to avoid the soft lock.
3. Keep an Eye on Patches / Bug Fix Notes
Because:
- Nine Mortal Ways are central to Ghostlight Market
- The Kaifeng elder explicitly mentions drinking there
- Many guides talk about Nine Mortal Ways as if a Kaifeng/Market route is a thing
…it wouldn’t be surprising if:
- A future patch hooks that dialogue up to a real recruitment quest, or
- The global version catches up to content that was missing at launch
So for your article, you can:
- Clearly state the current reality, and
- Add a small “Patch notes / updates” box at the end, which you can update later as the game evolves.
FAQ
Q: I failed both Nine Mortal Ways encounters in Qinghe and already joined another sect. Can Kaifeng still save my run?
A: Not right now. The Art of Skill Theft quest in Kaifeng gives you Mortal Rope Dart and story ties, but doesn’t restore your ability to officially join Nine Mortal Ways if your early choices locked you out.
Q: The elder at Nine Mortal Ways Martial Hall told me to meet him in Ghostlight Market, but he’s not there. Is this bugged?
A: You’re seeing what everyone else is seeing. Players who’ve fully unlocked Ghostlight Market, cleared Bounty Trouble and March of the Dead, and checked both time states still don’t find him. As of now, it looks like unfinished or purely flavor dialogue, not a working join quest.
Q: Do I need Ghostlight Market to join Nine Mortal Ways?
A: Ghostlight Market is the lore and operations hub for Nine Mortal Ways and hosts important quests, but current, reliable join routes are tied to earlier choices in Qinghe. The market deepens the story; it doesn’t (yet) act as a universal backup entrance for people who already burned those choices.
Q: Can I still get Mortal Rope Dart if I never join Nine Mortal Ways?
A: Yes. The Kaifeng Martial Hall / Art of Skill Theft route gives you Mortal Rope Dart through Skill Theft alone, without needing formal sect membership. Joining Nine Mortal Ways is an alternative, not the only way to obtain it.