Bosses · Phantom Blade Zero

In the village of Lu, speak to Old Man Gen, then cross the stone bridge and look for the gatekeeper on patrol.

Guhe is one of the four Acolytes serving under the High Elder. Through a scarecrow, he conceals himself within the Discordance. Clad in eerie purple robes, he wields deadly poison as a weapon. With a sweep of his fly whisk, toxic mist spreads in all directions, seeping into bone and corroding martial arts. He can also conjure a poisonous double to use the same techniques. At close range, poison erupts from his sleeves and eats away at his enemies. Those afflicted suffer excruciating pain as the poison gnaws at their organs and steadily drains their vitality, until they finally perish in agony. By order of the High Elder, he dwells at the heart of the Meigu Lake islands, watching the lake day and night. Anyone who might hinder the Lady of the Veil’s descent is eliminated without exception. Whenever a ritual array shows signs of disturbance, whatever the cause or truth behind it, he personally goes to dismantle it and strip away the facade. The flesh is but an illusion, and all life eventually decays. Yet when the merciful Lady of the Veil descends, poison will spread across the world and strip away every false appearance... Guhe longs for that day.

Beyond the fissure in the Lady's statue lies the courtyard of a long-abandoned manor. Tattered sedan chairs, opera costumes, and performing puppets crowd its corners. Half a puppet hangs above the central doorway. An Aberrant Three-faced Puppet guards this place. Its masks seem to house three distinct minds. Steel Mask is forceful and decisive. Frost Mask is timid and hesitant, startled by every shadow. Chaos Mask still sleeps. When Soul intrudes, Steel Mask invokes the Herald's promise and attacks. Her fierce swordplay draws upon the Discordance to vanish and shift in an instant, each strike swift and savage. When pressed, she unleashes a powerful assault and forces Soul out. The strength of the other two faces remains unknown. Learn this puppet's weaknesses, and a future encounter may end in her complete defeat.

A "Vessel-class" Swordfighter Puppet with bladed lower legs, built from material harder than refined iron and crafted with exquisite precision. Bi Taotao’s former features still linger in its face, her black hair flowing as before, with a pair of Stormswords in hand, wind and thunder following their strikes. Taking charge of the Baishan Sect feels like only yesterday. Back then, she cast aside her timidity and vowed to weather every storm for the sect and restore it to its former glory. When word came that Huangxing was pushing Perfect Transcension, Bi Taotao rushed to the Mandate Encampment overnight to demand an explanation. Instead, she walked into a trap that closed in from both sides. She believed they still honored the rules of the righteous path. She believed compromise could protect her disciples. In the end, nothing was saved. Her treasured memories were drawn out one by one, leaving her hollow before she was forced into a puppet’s body. The Stormswords remained in her hands, but only emptiness remained within. The wreckage on the training ground fills her with sorrow, only for her to quickly forget why she feels sorrow at all. In the end, she knows only that she has forgotten something deeply important. Even as she suffers from that loss, that memory too is suddenly taken from her.

Face The Hunt, Hunter of the Order at Great Waterfall. Save Sha-Chi for the repeated ranged attacks.

Enter the mirror forest at the end of the forest chapter. To receive help from the archer, collect all 6 of the Void's memories first.

Chaos Flame burns around her body and coils around the blade in her hand. Years ago, seeking the power of Chaos, she used her own body as fuel and drew the flames within. Ever since, she has been trapped between uncontrollable madness and endless sleep. But she gained the power she sought, unmatched and at the very pinnacle of martial skill. People are often like this. They spend everything chasing the height of martial mastery, only to long for the peace and warmth of ordinary life once they reach it. When she drank the “Three Souls as One” medicine, she did not feel nothing. Sometimes she wonders if that brief moment of hesitation was what ultimately left them as they are now.

Go from Well of the Three Puppets to Covered Bridge. Descend through the right door and remove the red threads. Cross the bridge, turn right and approach the statue grounds.

With the Chief Disciple at their head, the seven wield their swords as one, arrayed in the shape of the Northern Dipper, hence the name Seven-Star Formation. After Perfect Transcension, they became bound by Sha-Chi, their movements in attack and retreat perfectly synchronized. These seven prided themselves on their integrity, devoted to punishing evil, upholding justice, and honing their swordsmanship, never seeking to contend with others. Yet the Chief Disciple fell in love with a woman from an evil sect, violating the Mandate’s rules. Though his swordsmanship was peerless and his many achievements had long made amends, the alliance still refused to promote him and repeatedly marginalized him. He merely laughed it off and bore every injustice. He would not betray the woman he loved or his sect. Between the irreconcilable paths of "righteousness" and "evil," he sought a path he could follow with a clear conscience. Yet he often felt he owed too much to the junior disciples who had followed him all these years. They never blamed their senior brother, instead burning with indignation over the injustices he suffered. Then that incident... shattered their last respect for the alliance’s upper ranks. They realized that meekly yielding only made them pawns to be used and trampled at will. Consumed by resentment, they underwent Perfect Transcension. The alliance used this to expel them, making them even less known in the Wulin, especially their Chief Disciple, the foremost swordsman who led the formation.

Through the Lóng Pillar, Soul falls into a place where fire and darkness intertwine. The ruins of pavilions burn endlessly in the darkness, as though a disaster has been frozen at its most brutal moment. Amid the scorched earth, a man in black wearing a golden mask slowly appears, his steps calm and his bearing that of a master. Something about it all feels strangely familiar to Soul. The man in black wields an ornate, vivid red blade. His strikes are precise and seasoned, his movements graceful as a shadow. Whenever Soul’s blade draws near, he slips aside in an instant, leaving the attack to fall short. If he meant to win, he would be a formidable opponent, yet he holds back with every strike, deliberately using the battle to guide Soul’s martial arts. Few in the world possess such martial mastery. After the trial, the man in black tells Soul to remember the name “Bastion of Mó.” Clearly, this mysterious master is from the Bastion of Mó... Could he be Mó Yuan, leader of the Bastion of Mó? Could the other Lóng Pillars lead Soul to him again and reveal more answers?

A Maskwalker who repeatedly taunts Soul along the mountain path. He wears a jade mask, its colors gaudy and grotesque. In battle, he can fight alongside two doubles: Jade Mask wields rings with sly, unpredictable movements; Gold Mask wields a sword with cunning strikes; Iron Mask wields a blade with brutal force. Feints and true attacks intertwine, while an eerie grin conceals his deadly intent. He was sent by Huangxing to monitor Soul’s movements, yet he simply watched with amusement as Soul climbed from the foot of the mountain to its peak. His bizarre and unpredictable nature is unlike the others under Huangxing. Combined with his eclectic martial arts and strange techniques, he may even share the same origins as Thread-Binding... Just what role does this man play under Huangxing? Yet the battle in the shrine did not seem to defeat him completely. Perhaps this was the contingency he had kept in reserve.

At the first floor of the tower, descend the front-right staircase to the bottom. Take the left stairs up to Hua, Deadly Betrothed.

On an island in northern Meigu Lake, Soul encounters You Loong again. Drawn here by instinct, he wields the Blackwater Crew’s treasured Loong Trident, while Sha-Chi rises from his damaged Loong Helm. His once-disciplined techniques are now wild and vicious, driven by bloodlust. Even the surging waves seem bent on slaughter. He was once a reckless youth, a bold leader who gathered heroes and fought to defend the Mandate against the Maskwalkers. Now Sha-Chi has consumed him. He clings to his last shred of clarity only to return here. But the Blackwater Crew’s headquarters is no longer what it was. His fellow crew members have become fish-headed monsters, turning on the village they once swore to protect. The villagers who once brought them food and drink have either fled or been devoured. He still remembers his duty as their leader. But there is no one left to protect.

In the barren graveyard, Xue gnaws on rotting corpses. She casts hungry looks at the living and the dead within sight. As she swings her rake wildly, she can summon several shadowy figures in her own image. While fleeing disaster last year, Xue nearly died of cold and hunger. A band of wandering heroes came to her aid, promising to keep her safe and teach her martial arts. But their promises ended in a clash with Maskwalkers outside the encampment. She can no longer remember which of them told her to hide and promised to return... When she went looking for them, she found only a few mutilated bodies, their faces unrecognizable. Xue buried the bodies, gathered up what lay scattered around, and waited quietly for the heroes to return... But her pack grew emptier by the day. There had long been nothing left to eat inside. When hunger struck again, she dug into the soft earth before her. A voice in her head told her that vegetable roots and sweet potatoes could be found beneath the soil...

Defeat Gu Wanyue, drop into the well and follow ladders and boards to Well of Wei Sanchuan. Climb the outside stairs to start the fight.

Five Lóng Pillars, five reunions, yet they could never make up for more than thirty years apart. Across those countless days and nights, he missed too many important moments in Soul’s life. He never heard Soul’s first words or watched him take his first steps. He was not there to teach him to read, introduce him to martial arts, or personally pass down the Bastion of Mó’s techniques. The Bastion bloodline carries immense Sha-Chi, demanding exceptional strength and control. Without someone from the Bastion to guide him, Soul was bound to endure far more hardship... Fortunately, Soul has grown up safe. He now stands tall, and his martial skill is already no less than Mó Yuan’s own. In every move, Mó Yuan sees the hardship of those thirty years, as well as Soul’s search and uncertainty today. Soul is walking his own path. Beyond guiding his martial arts and teaching him to master the power in his blood, all Mó Yuan can do is let him know that someone will always be there for him. But saying everything in his heart might only become a burden. Better to leave all the words he cannot say within each exchange of blades. He can only hope that these trials will help Soul clear the path ahead.

Climb the long stairs from Backstreet Archway to the top.

From the terrace bell, follow the torches uphill with the waterwheel on your right. At ①, rail A is farther from the wheel than rail B. Both simulated landings from the middle of the rails reach the lower field. The jump into the courtyard is unconfirmed. For the known route, follow blue to ②, run up the wall and follow blue to ③.

A madwoman who attacks anyone she encounters on the mountain paths of the Mountain of Imprisonment. Her purple clothes are tattered and worn, her bronze mask rough and twisted, her gray hair wild and unkempt. She wields a heavy spiked club, swinging and smashing it in a frenzy with no discernible technique. When the Mandate and Huangxing’s followers were fighting over the passage, Kui Yanyan suddenly burst into the fray. She still vaguely remembers the tragedy of her beloved son. After he became a Maskwalker, the villagers butchered him before her eyes. In her grief, she removed the Transcension device from his body and implanted it in her own, sacrificing the blood of an entire village to his memory. Since then, she has wandered in search of medicine, clinging to the delusion that she can bring her son back... Those cries and clashes must mean someone has come to kill her child again... Whatever they are fighting to the death to seize must be the miraculous medicine that can save her flesh and blood... She raises her spiked club and charges into the clash of blades.

His flesh and armor lie torn open, yet his ruined body does not fall. Through the bloody mist, two steel arms unfold from the Hunt's back and grasp another pair of gleaming chain sickles. His four arms strike in turn or send all four scythes flying at once, extending and recoiling without pattern. Their pull can shake the earth and raise blasts of force. Even in retreat, he can strike back to kill. Such is the extraordinary result of Transcension applied to the Order's Shadow Wardens: monsters that remain faithful to the new Shadow Sovereign, however grotesque their alterations. The Hunt does not notice the ceaseless demand for slaughter screaming through his mind. Butchering Maskwalkers and Mandate fighters brings no satisfaction... He blames his quarry. This Master Soul is more troublesome than any before him, and must surely offer greater pleasure in the hunt. Yet is the hunter himself not prey to his own desires?

Having cast aside the Tiger Cannon, Lei Dang unleashes a ferocious one-armed fighting style. His punches strike with enough force to shake the mountains, sending waves of power slicing forward like blades. He can also slam the ground with tremendous force, throwing his opponent off balance and leaving them exposed. If he leaps high into the air and crashes down with the force of thunder, the only way to avoid the attack is to use the terrain to get clear. Lei Dang now knows that what he took was the true Trickster’s medicine. Every part of Leng Tu’s scheme was connected, and everyone caught in it had been trapped from the very beginning. But Soul may be the one exception, the only variable in a predetermined outcome, and the last hope for countless ordinary people. He may also be the one who can secure the Radiant Heart for Shadow Sovereign Zuo. And if Lei Dang can face his old friend Soul, the renowned former Shadow Edict “Blackscar,” in one final fight before he dies, he will have no regrets.

Turn left at the Outlaw Trap bell and cross the cave. With THE FANATIC'S BROKEN BLADE, you can attack Jing Ye from a distance while tipsy.

The senior disciple of the Baishan Sect and Bi Taotao’s first disciple. When Soul encountered Wu Lengshuang in the Confinement, her mask was already cracked as she struggled to suppress the Sha-Chi surging within her. Even with a soft sword in hand, supple yet unyielding, she retained her usual grace and poise. Like Bi Taotao, Wu Lengshuang believed both Perfect Transcension and Transcension to be unorthodox arts. After her master disappeared, she set out to find her and uncover the truth. She never imagined her fellow disciples had been turned into Maskwalkers and Puppets until she saw it herself. After uncovering the truth, she too was transformed. Even as her Sha-Chi spiraled out of control, she remained concerned for her master, who had been taken to the end of the mountain path. Born the daughter of a wealthy merchant, she took up martial arts after seeing the chaos of the world. The flexibility she developed through dance became frenzied swordplay under Sha-Chi’s influence. Once the senior disciple of Baishan, she could no longer protect her sect or face her elders. Transformed in body and tormented at heart, only loyalty and sorrow remained.

Go from Huang Manor Crossroads to the street where the enemies are fighting.

Hansui is one of the four Acolytes serving under the High Elder. Through a crystal eyeball, he conceals himself within the Discordance. Clad in pale blue robes and wielding a whisk, Hansui turns ice into a weapon of slaughter. With a sweep of his whisk, jagged glaciers burst from the ground as rows of ice spikes spread outward. He can also summon biting winds and freeze the surrounding land into a field of snow. By order of the High Elder, Hansui watches over Crimson Manor to ensure the crystal eyeball never changes hands. To make certain of this, he willingly separated a sliver of his consciousness and allowed the High Elder to seal it within the eye. Through this bond, he can conceal himself within the Discordance. The Herald sensed something amiss but could not sever the connection, so the eye was embedded in the Scavenger. Hansui’s consciousness thus became bound to the creature, and should the Scavenger die, Hansui would suffer as well. Fortunately, the Scavenger was an experimental creation that survived even with weapons driven through its body. Hansui became deeply fascinated by this near-immortal resilience. Life and death, flourishing and decay, pass in an instant. Yet when the Merciful Lady descends, eternal frost shall seal the world in ice, and all things beneath Heaven will know eternity... Hansui longs for that day.

Cold iron chains bind the Crusher’s feet, while a massive hammer is chained to his hand. One arm and leg are thick with muscle, while the other pair are withered and frail. Born with this uneven body and stubborn by nature, he trained only his stronger side, becoming more fearsome with each passing year. Most who see him are too intimidated to notice the faceless creature perched on his shoulders. That creature is the Saw. Riding on the Crusher’s neck, he repeatedly cuts into his flesh with a bone saw, using the pain to drive him into a frenzy and send him charging at his enemies without restraint. All the while, the Saw’s shrill, manic laughter rings out, chilling anyone who hears it before the fight even begins. The Crusher, however, only grows more ferocious with every laugh.

A martial artist who fights with Iron Gauntlets and the senior brother of Iron Fever. Hulking and stern faced, he stands firm as a mountain and strikes with tremendous force. Alongside Jade Dancer, he trains Young Mistress Mu Xiaokui in martial arts and serves as her guard, the two working seamlessly together. Though the grudges of his sect had been settled, unrest still simmered throughout the Wulin. Iron Fiend had intended to step away from the turmoil, but the Order's invitation and the "rules" it upheld convinced him to join. Within the Order, Iron Fiend took on the duty of guarding the Young Mistress. "Protect the weak and raise your fists against the strong" had always been the martial path he followed. Over time, his loyalty only deepened. In Xiaokui, he saw a clear and kind heart, and the strength to lead others. She was worth protecting with his life, and he would do all he could to help her grow. Now the old Shadow Sovereign is dead, and Soul, one of the Shadow Edicts, has defected. The Order has been thrown into upheaval. Though Iron Fiend laments what has happened, he has no desire to pass judgment. The Young Mistress's decision is his own.

On the high platform, three disciples catch a red thread on their sword tips and draw the Chief Disciple up with it, leaving him hanging upside down in midair. Pulled by the strings, he swings the blade in his hands, like a puppet trying to break free of its strings; like a wraith, he sprays countless razor-sharp red threads from the black hollows of his face, winding and slicing through the air like tears of blood. He once loved a woman from an evil sect. The Mandate’s upper ranks would not tolerate their love, and with a single order, they tore the lovers apart. The Chief Disciple had known little beyond the sword formation. What did he know of schemes and intrigue? For the first time in his life, he clumsily defied his sect. In return, he could only watch helplessly as the woman he loved was tortured and left covered in wounds. Even his peerless sword formation could not protect the one he wanted to protect. Once his heart was broken, there was little left he feared losing. He entrusted everything he had left to the strings. And what if he looked like a puppet hanging upside down? At least the strings of that puppet would be held in their own hands.

A woman who wanders before a ruined songhouse, playing the zither in her arms day and night without rest. The instrument seems almost alive, its ringing notes giving voice to her pent-up resentment and indignation, spilling them over any living thing that strays here. Yan’er was once a renowned zither player who captivated every audience. She thought she had found true love with a great hero and even bore his child, only to be met with an assassin’s blade... In the debauched life of that Mandate sect leader, there was never any place for the happiness a lowly musician could hope for. After narrowly surviving the calamity, Yan’er was taken in by the High Elder and given the name Yan Qiansui. But what the High Elder truly wanted was the child in her womb. To him, her unborn child was merely a sacrifice to shorten the passage. When Yan Qiansui learned the truth behind her child’s death, she was alive in body but dead inside. Yet it seemed all she could do was flee from the truth. Only the zither that had always remained by her side could offer her a little comfort, allowing her to lose herself in a fleeting dream of past splendor and seek a salvation that never existed.

The phantom realm fades, and Sha-Chi spills forth. The Mirrorwood is sealed in ice and snow, all sound swallowed by the frost, leaving the forest quiet and still. The tree where Bai Chilian once dwelled now stands empty, replaced by the Chaos Puppet that appeared that day in the Rift Estate. This bitterly cold place is the perfect refuge for her, as one of the puppet’s consciousnesses fears heat and craves the cold. The puppet’s three faces bicker without end, yet the moment they wield that bone-chilling Chaos Blade, they act as one. The three faces take control of the body in turn, the blade at times cloaked in frost, at times wreathed in Chaos Flames, and at times gleaming like steel. For a moment, it is as if they have returned to twenty years ago. They too once walked the Wulin side by side, swords in hand, full of youthful spirit. Then one became timid, while another fell into a sleep from which she never awoke. In the end, the three fused into one, enduring unbearable agony without a moment’s peace. They fled here hoping to escape the Herald’s control. Yet now, as they fight, the burning pain within the body becomes unbearable, and the feeling of being bound grows ever stronger, as if the Herald had hidden some mechanism within them, now clamoring to tear the three of them apart...

When that steel blade is in her hand, frost covers the edge and ice hangs from its ridge. She summons wind and snow, driving the blade into the earth to raise a towering wave of snow. A sweep of cold freezes anything it touches in an instant, locking blood and meridians in ice. As the second sister, she was clingy by nature, relying on her elder and younger sisters for everything. She loved ice from childhood. Its surface was clear as a mirror, reflecting her pure eyes. The ice never scolded her; it only listened. She gradually came to fear the world, yet never the ice. Following its cold glimmers, she entered the frozen realm and became one with the ice. From then on, she feared every warmth in the world. Later, she overcame her fear for the first and only time, drinking the scalding medicine in hopes of reuniting with her sisters. She made a three-headed cloth doll, each head smiling, the three souls as one, just as they had vowed never to part. Her words became prophecy. Somehow, the doll became the grotesque creature it is today, and for twenty years, the sisters have been unable to separate. Her younger sister’s fire burns her skin without cease, driving her deeper into madness and fear. Three sisters who once complemented one another—how did becoming one body turn their bond into such torment?

A ghost-faced saw wheel bursts from his body and merges with the Flying Guillotine. His mind takes shape as a phantom realm, where the statue of the Lady of the Veil stands tall, revealing the supreme secret he longs to uncover and the overwhelming power he seeks to claim. It also conceals the true statue in the shrine, and the gaze of Moji sealed within it. The saw wheel roars and spins. He has cast aside the form of a human, and seems to have cast aside the last of his humanity. It was he who sealed Moji inside the statue, to prove himself right, to make him witness the Mandate’s decay, and to show him the new Wulin he would forge. The saw wheel roars and spins. His remaining guilt, rage, and resentment, the last vestiges of his humanity, seem to fade away. The power he seeks is so immense. What does it matter if he sacrifices his flesh and humanity to obtain it? The saw wheel roars and spins. He throws himself into a frenzy of slaughter, finally freed from having to face the statue in his heart. Moji would never accept him like this. Now, he no longer needs his approval.

At the summit of the Mountain of Imprisonment, in the temple of the Lady of the Veil, Huangxing, once one of the Three Pillars of Kunlun and now the mastermind behind Perfect Transcension, holds court. Wearing a masked helm, his left arm from the elbow down is composed of intricate mechanisms. With it, he can wield the Flying Guillotine at range or draw his sword for close combat, his attacks forceful and relentless. Countless opponents of Perfect Transcension have died by his hand. He will use their blood to forge a new path. The Mandate’s upper ranks are corrupt, its disciples weak; those in power lack resolve, while those with resolve lack power. Yuyin clings to the Wulin’s rules, while Moji is painfully naive. These injustices have prolonged the bloodshed and caused countless needless deaths. He joined forces with Master Bai to conspire against Yuyin and the Chord. He pushed Perfect Transcension through the Encampment, seized the Mountain of Imprisonment with his elite followers, and showed no mercy to those who opposed him, even Moji. A new Wulin, a new Phantom World, is unfolding before him. There is no need to look down at the bones beneath his feet.

Wan Jun, a massive hammer wielder guarding the Mandate Encampment, bears scars across his body from Perfect Transcension. His Bashpole can shatter stone and shake the ground with every blow. Feared for his strength and mocked for being slow-witted, Wan Jun found companionship only in the pigeons that perched on his arms. Huangxing scolded him for wasting such strength on birds and taught him Perfect Transcension, promising it would sharpen his mind and make him a warrior admired across the Wulin. No one had ever expected so much of Wan Jun before. From then on, he followed Huangxing without question. Even as Sha-Chi clouded his mind, he remained at the Encampment gate, carrying out his orders. The Encampment now lies in ruins, but the pigeons still linger beside him. When Soul finally defeats him, one thought flashes through his fading mind: Huangxing’s promise that Perfect Transcension came without cost was a lie.

A frenzied, arrogant brute in a mask cobbled together from scrap metal, wielding a broad-headed axe in one hand. Dried blood cakes the heavy blade. When it comes down, its weight and force are brutal, every blow filled with madness. He once followed closely behind his reckless elder brother, quietly cleaning up the mess he left behind. He always remembered their mother’s teaching: they were brothers by blood and should help one another. Even after Transcension, he had not forgotten it entirely. So why, when the Mandate captured him, did his own brother not even look back? Later, he stood guard at a Mandate camp, serving under them. And the Mandate that had once stood above all, hunting the two brothers, had long since fallen into becoming Maskwalkers little different from himself... There is no right or wrong left in this world. Everyone should be loyal only to themselves.

A master of the flaming blade, clad in robes patterned with fire. The mask that once concealed his burns now covers a hollow face, suppressing the frenzied Sha-Chi brought on by Transcension. His blade needs no outside flame to ignite it: fire springs from the steel itself, each sweeping stroke unleashing a blazing inferno. Years ago, Zhu Yuan survived a battlefield engulfed in flames. He watched the swiftest blades and the thickest volleys of arrows vanish into the conflagration. Entranced by that all-consuming power, he threw himself into the study of fire, tempering his swordplay in its heat. Even burns across his entire body could not deter his quest to command the flames. The furnaces of the Sha-Chi Tower burn day and night, their molten metal flowing without rest. A device left here was used to transform Zhu Yuan, enabling his body to withstand extreme heat and taking his blade technique to new heights. He battled the flames until he could finally fuse fire with his blade and command it through Sha-Chi.

From Mirrorwood Entrance, jump down to the clearing and challenge Iron Fever.

To unlock the bodyguard phase, collect all 5 ribbons in VILLAGE OF LU before fighting Mu Xiaokui. Complete the timed inputs during the fight.

A woman of a cold face. A Fiend Saw long-blade under each foot; she drives the twin blades with supple legs, her movement like lightning, her cuts unmatched. Together with Iron Fiend she trains the Young Mistress Mu Xiaokui and serves as guard; they work as one. Jade Dancer was an orphan, saved by the Shadow Sovereign in a moment of peril. Later young Mu Xiaokui called her "Sister," saying she would be her family—and something tender took root in this woman who had always kept her heart cold. The duty of a bodyguard soon became a care and loyalty that came from the bone. On the training ground she is iron with the Young Mistress; off it, she patiently teaches her to press the right points, easing the ache in her ankles. Every gift from the Young Mistress she keeps in silence. The days she has spent at the Young Mistress's side may even outlast those of the Shadow Sovereign himself. After old Sovereign Mu passed, undercurrents rose in the Order, and the Wulin too was full of sudden turns. No one knows better than Jade Dancer how heavy a load sits on the Young Mistress's shoulders. And more than the Order's fortunes, she fears for the Young Mistress's life.

From Green Serpent House, cross the stone bridge and the firecracker street. Keep right to reach the two puppets, then descend below the ancestral hall square.

Cross the red threads in WEEPING CREEK VALLEY. Wait until the enemies start fighting each other before approaching Jagged Steel, the Frenzied Brute.

With FLAMING MANE, return to Pavilion of Knowledge Crossroads. Burn the thorns on the ascending stairs, cross the boards into the house, descend through Mandate Lodgings and climb the stairs again.

This is in fact the puppet vessel Meng Hua, formerly of the “Eleven,” uses to walk the Waking Realm. To create a vessel capable of fully bearing her consciousness and power, the Herald spent more than three hundred days and slaughtered countless villagers and Wulin masters. Its hair is made of red thread and adorned with ornate gold, every detail crafted to please the Lady of the Veil. It remains unclear whether “Veiled blossom” is simply another name for Meng Hua, a deliberate attempt to conceal her identity, or a name chosen to keep the Lady’s true identity unspoken. What is known is that worship of the “Merciful Lady of the Blossom Veil, who saves those in suffering” began only two or three years ago. The Wulin has been in turmoil for years. Maskwalkers run rampant, while the Mandate is corrupt and weak, leaving ordinary people with no one to rely on. Their own struggles seem all the more powerless. And the more desperate the world becomes, the more precious Meng Hua’s charity appears. The Lady of the Veil who appears in dreams is kind, compassionate, and beautiful. She offers comfort and guidance, and surely possesses boundless power to lead them out of this hopeless age. Those at the end of their road know how to cling to “grace” and “miracles.” For those who have yet to submit, one need only add fuel to the fire of their despair. Suffering itself will teach them to kneel. But faith was never the Lady of the Veil’s goal. In her battle against Inanis long ago, her consciousness dissipated in the depths of the Discordance, only to be remade through the formless, shapeless Blight, whose sole instinct is to devour all things. She once sought to contend with the Blight. Yet two equally voracious beings cannot devour themselves, so how could either devour the other? Instead, they fused, perfectly compatible and mutually beneficial. She longs to return to the Waking Realm and manipulate the countless lives within it, while the Blight’s instinct is to devour everything and turn all things into itself. As for what awaits after her return, whether she slowly consumes the world and toys with its people, or unleashes a grand catastrophe that annihilates all things... she now lives as one with the Blight. What happens next is entirely up to her.

An Envoy of the Order, Lei Dang is broad shouldered and formidable, with an upright, steady nature and unwavering loyalty. He once lost his right arm on a mission and was saved by Soul. He later fitted a Tiger Cannon to his severed arm. When charged, it roars like a tiger and unleashes devastating firepower. Now, under orders from the new Shadow Sovereign, Zuo Shang, he has come to Pangzhen to stop the Herald's long brewing scheme, a plot that could shake the entire Phantom World. When the former Shadow Sovereign, Mu, was suddenly murdered, and the killer turned out to be Soul, an old comrade who had fought beside him through life and death, Lei Dang could hardly believe it. Yet by both duty and reason, he should have taken Soul into custody the moment they met. But with the situation at hand, and their deep bond in mind, he ultimately held back and instead showed Soul a path to Mirage Estate. Yet for all Lei Dang's steadiness, every move he made had already been accounted for in Zuo Shang's calculations.

Deep in the Phantom Illusionist Ruins, a white-clad bladesman stands amid wind and snow, a divine weapon in hand. Clad in light northern armor and robes whiter than snow, half his face is already ruined, cast into shadow by the High Elder’s sinister plot. He cuts, splitting stone and cleaving clouds. Swift as a wraith, his every strike carries formidable force; his long blade tears through the air, leaving frost in its wake. After years in the northern Wulin, he had rarely met an equal. Proud by nature, he lived by his own code of vengeance, wielding Whiteshadow to cut down countless evil and heterodox foes. In search of his missing son, he traveled south alone. After three years, he reached the Frozen Lands, only to discover that his son had already died there. Grief and fury consumed him. He swore to destroy every enemy, unaware that his frenzied slaughter had already led him into the High Elder’s trap. Bound by several arts, he was reduced to a puppet guarding Puppet No. 99. The endless wind and snow wear down what remains of his body, while his son’s death tortures his heart without end. Fortunately, he has found someone he can entrust this to, someone who can slay the monsters in his stead and avenge his son’s death.

Go from Backstreet Rest through the second floor of the narrow house, descend to the courtyard and take the zipline to Pond of Fading Song. Of the 3 ziplines in the backstreets, use the one shown on the map. From the ground by its lower end, follow the teal line about 140 m to the pond bell.

The leader of the Maskwalkers lurking before the shallow-water docks. Clad in red and wielding a crimson blade, he moves with eerie unpredictability. His wails summon a blood mist, despair given form. The six beside him go mad at the sound, their Sha-Chi surging as they throw themselves into the fray one after another. All seven came from Pangzhen and studied under the same master. Jin was the youngest. After learning that his birth mother had died unjustly, he cut off a finger to protect his sister, earning the affection of his elder brothers. Later, they learned that their father and aunt despised their sister Xiu. Fearing Jin, they instead took out their anger on Xiu’s maid, with their cruelty growing worse by the day. Frail Xiu soon fell gravely ill, and the brothers were outraged. They found Soul Displacement Water to ease Xiu’s suffering and swore that, should they ever rise in the world, they would protect the siblings and seek justice for them. If any brother fell, the others would care for his family. But none possessed exceptional talent, so they trained day and night and eventually underwent Transcension together. Before they could make their mark, a strange illness swept through the town. They tried to return home, but bodies altered by Transcension could not withstand the Sha-Chi blanketing Meigu Lake. The faces of their loved ones slowly blurred beneath bloodlust and madness... They were only a few li from home, yet they would never return.

An elite swordsman under Huangxing. His broad, low-hanging straw hat conceals the false face beneath it. He wields the Juggernaut, a rough and mottled blade whose every sweeping slash strikes with the force of a falling mountain. He once carried his blade across the wastelands, fighting Maskwalkers in bloody battles time and again. But while his blade could cut down every Maskwalker, it could not cut away the corruption and decay of the Mandate’s upper ranks. They withheld supplies, watched their disciples perish, and indulged themselves while corpses piled up on the front lines. The Mandate’s survival, ideals, and glory were nothing more than pawns in their schemes. With each disappointment, his zeal to defend the Mandate slowly faded. Until Master Huangxing, one of the Three Pillars of Kunlun, used an iron hand and sword to tear open the stench of corruption within the Encampment, leading his followers to cut away its deep-rooted ills. The fire in his heart, long dormant, burned anew. The Mandate could still be rebuilt, and that hope was not far away. It lay in the hands of the man he had chosen to follow: Master Huangxing.