The quick answer
Buy Unknown Old Books from Ni Laoshan’s antique bookshop in Ghostlight Market, open them and collect ten Sword Horizon tomes. Then comprehend and equip the Inner Way. The books are a random-output purchase, so ten books are not a guaranteed ten-tome unlock.
On this page
Find the antique bookshop
Reach Ghostlight Market beneath Kaifeng and activate its Boundary Stone. Follow the market towards the lantern-lit stairs, go upstairs and look for the antique bookshop on the left. Ni Laoshan is unusually positioned overhead, so look up rather than only at the counter.
If the market is occupied by the March of the Dead event state, change away from Mao hour and check the shops again. You can reach the market through story progress or the Bounty Trouble route from Riverside Station.
Buy, open and count the tomes
- Check the Unknown Old Book item and its current Coin price in Ni Laoshan’s shop.
- Buy a manageable batch, open the books from your bag and inspect the results.
- Count Sword Horizon tomes, not the number of books purchased.
- Once you have ten, use the Inner Ways learning or Comprehend action and equip Sword Horizon.
The documented shop price is 12,500 Coins per book. Thirty books at that price cost 375,000 Coins; that is purchase arithmetic, not a promise that every player needs exactly thirty. Our recommendation is to stop buying as soon as your learning requirement is met.
Learn the timed Strategic Sword input
Sword Horizon adds a timed follow-up after Strategic Sword’s Martial Art, Special or Charged skills. Press the relevant skill input during the ending window to trigger the follow-up, also described as Crisscrossing Swords or Crosswind Blade.
Against a target with five Bleed stacks, the follow-up converts those stacks into High Bleeding. Our suggested practice is to build five stacks on a durable target, use one eligible skill and watch the prompt. Learn that single timing before adding weapon swaps.
The July update also gives Tier 3’s guaranteed-Affinity High Bleeding a conditional extension to your active damage-over-time effects.
Keep learning and breakthroughs separate
The initial tomes unlock the Inner Way. Later breakthroughs use Notes and progression requirements; buying more old books is not a substitute for every upgrade material. Check the next tier’s requirement before spending selection chests.
If the follow-up never appears, first confirm Sword Horizon is equipped and that the active art is Strategic Sword. Owning an Inner Way does not activate it in every saved loadout.
What to read next
Common questions
Do ten Unknown Old Books guarantee the unlock?
No. You need ten Sword Horizon tomes obtained from opening the books.
Does Sword Horizon work with every sword Martial Art?
Its special follow-up is tied to Strategic Sword, so check the equipped art and Inner Way.
Sources & verification
Source research is separate from in-game testing. Recommendations are identified as editorial advice.
- Official: Version 2.0 adjustments
Balance review.