All vikisDiverging Paths
Diverging Paths is Phantom Blade Zero's prologue in Weeping Creek Valley: watch Soul and Zuo Shang's duel, learn to move and fight 16 years earlier, beat Zuo Shang twice, then take the Tainted Heart that gives Soul 66 days. It has one boss, Zuo Shang, and no rewards.
Phantom Blade Zero opens with its hero dying: in S-Game's Aug 18, 2026 deep dive video for the State of Play, the narrator says that in the final duel against his blood brother "a blade is driven through your heart", and that the mysterious healer, the Flesh Sculptor, "restores your life, but with a fatal condition. You have exactly 66 days to live." That duel is Diverging Paths, the prologue main quest set in Weeping Creek Valley, the first of 11 chapters counting the prologue. It teaches movement and combat 16 years in the past, puts Soul against Zuo Shang twice, gives no rewards, and ends with the Tainted Heart. This page contains story spoilers.
1. The duel, then 16 years earlier
A cutscene of Soul and Zuo Shang's fight ends with both falling to each other's swords, then jumps back 16 years to the young Soul. The path ahead teaches the camera, jumping, crouching and wall traversal; nothing here can be missed.
2. Spar with Zuo Shang, then fight him for real
Walk on to the building where a cutscene starts a sparring match with Zuo Shang. This is the combat tutorial: Sha-Chi Combos, Guard Stance, blocking, parrying and chaining combos (Game8), the same system Combat takes apart move by move. Win the spar, and the story returns to the opening duel, which you now fight as the grown Soul. That makes Zuo Shang the game's first boss twice over, the spar and the duel, which is why he heads the order on Bosses.
The duel cannot be lost in the usual sense. However it goes, both men are struck down, and PCGamesN notes that the outcome is always the same.
3. Choose a heart
Soul wakes before the Flesh Sculptor, who offers two hearts (Game8):
| Heart | What it does |
|---|---|
| Hollow Heart | Takes away emotion and desire, leaving only reason |
| Tainted Heart | Keeps Soul alive with venom, but for 66 days only |
The Hollow Heart is shown but not taken: Soul chooses the Tainted Heart, which completes the prologue. Those 66 days frame the whole Story, and 66 Days Mode makes them a real clock. The next quest is Reckless Pursuit.
Sources
- Diverging Paths Quest Walkthrough and Rewards, Game8, updated Nov 2, 2026
- Story Walkthrough and List of All Chapters, Game8, updated Nov 4, 2026
- All Phantom Blade Zero bosses in order, PCGamesN (Tom Hopkins), updated Oct 30, 2026
- Enter the Wulin: Gameplay & Story Deep Dive of Phantom Blade Zero, Phantom Blade Zero (S-Game), Aug 18, 2026 (video)
Moments
Enter the Wulin: Gameplay & Story Deep Dive of Phantom Blade Zero
Phantom Blade Zero
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A Soul's WorthA Soul's Worth is Phantom Blade Zero's tenth and last chapter, on Mount Soulrend: climb past the Mountain God Temple and the Frostcliff Cavern, beat the Crusher and the Saw, ring the Last Chance bell (the final point of no return), then fight Leng Tu's four phases and Meng Hua at the summit. With every True Ending step done, Zuo Shang, the True Long, follows. Game8 lists 24 steps.
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Against the FlowAgainst the Flow is Chapter 2 of Phantom Blade Zero in Weeping Creek Valley: follow the river upstream, get the Sanguine Twin, beat Jagged Steel, enter the Outpost and beat Peng Meng for the Dread Axe. Talk to Yu'er and the Outpost's people first, since five side quests start here.
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Banyan's Heart LocationsOne run of Phantom Blade Zero holds eight Banyan's Hearts. Five come from the Human-Faced Banyan trees in Crimson Forest, Pangzhen, Mandate Encampment, Meigu Lake and the Mountain of Imprisonment, and three are sold by Quick Hand Zhang for 100,000 Remnant Dust each. On Nov 13, 2026, 31.5% of Steam players had cleared all five trees.
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CollectiblesPowerPyx counts 564 collectibles in Phantom Blade Zero, plus 30 side Tales: 161 bells, 129 Memory Flower fragments, 80 accessories and medicines, 43 tempering materials, 42 weapons and Phantom Edges, 40 Sha-Chi Amber shards, 40 Blackstone shards, 16 Treasures and 13 challenge locations. Half of Steam players had 10 Memory Flowers by Nov 9, 2026; about one in seven had 10 Blackstones or 10 Ambers.
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EndingsPhantom Blade Zero has four documented endings: Final Battle (the True Ending), Long's Roar, Annihilation (the default) and Undying Grudge, which only the 66 Days mode reaches. The True Ending needs every purple-icon quest done, ten of them before you enter Mirage Estate, and leads to a last fight with Zuo Shang after Meng Hua.
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Heartless RemnantsHeartless Remnants is Chapter 5 of Phantom Blade Zero in the Village of Lu: secure the Mandate Encampment's outer gate, enter the village past Zhuo Bi or the cliffs, sever the red threads, and beat Master Bi Yuan, Master Bi Hai, Yuzan and Mu Xiaokui. Finish the Young Mistress ribbons first to unlock Mu Xiaokui's secret third phase.
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How Long Is Each ChapterChapters 4, 5 and 7 of Phantom Blade Zero hold half its story time. In Gamer's Little Playground's 100% True Ending run, timed from its own chapter markers, Snake's Reflection took 3h 29m, The Heart's Trail 3h 24m and Heartless Remnants 3h 1m of 19h 49m to the first ending, while the prologue and Chapter 1 together took 21 minutes. Scaled to HowLongToBeat's 24h 43m main story average of Nov 13, 2026, Chapter 4 is about 4h 21m.
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MissablesPhantom Blade Zero's biggest point of no return is beating Bai Chilian in Chapter 4, which turns the Outpost and Thieves' Camp people into enemies. Entering Mirage Estate closes the True Ending, and leaving Quick Hand Zhang in his cage loses his shop and quests.
See also
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Zuo ShangZuo Shang (左殇) is Soul's childhood blood brother in Phantom Blade Zero, who drives a blade through Soul's heart in the final duel that opens the story. Zhang Xince, a Shanghai University film student, gave the character his face, and Soulframe Liang describes a sickly, cold, white-haired form of him.
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66 Days Mode66 Days (S-Game also writes "Sixty-Six Days") is Phantom Blade Zero's hardest mode, unlocked after you finish the game once: it plays at Hellwalker difficulty and turns Soul's 66 days to live into a counter that drops by one with each death, and at zero the run ends in permanent death with its own short ending. Fextralife cleared it on Cycle 1 with four deaths. On a normal playthrough the 66 days are story only, with no timer.
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Reckless PursuitReckless Pursuit is Chapter 1 of Phantom Blade Zero: survive the wagon chase on the main road, fight The Hunt, Hunter of the Order, then learn in a flashback that the Flesh Sculptor wants a heart from Pangzhen. It is short, with one boss and no rewards, and 94.9% of Steam players had finished the chase by Nov 9, 2026.