All vikisThe Way Forward
The Way Forward is Chapter 9 of Phantom Blade Zero, in Mirage Estate: enter through the Serpent Gate with every purple quest done, beat Yuding, No. 12 for the Crescent Blade, use the Opera Ticket, beat Qiu Feng for the Wraith Mask and Lei Dang for the Tiger Cannon, then break the wall past Mourning Hall onto the snowy path. Game8 lists 20 steps and 15 bells.
The Way Forward is Phantom Blade Zero's ninth chapter and its only one inside Mirage Estate: you enter through the Serpent Gate at the Green Serpent House, beat three bosses, Yuding, No. 12 (the Crescent Blade), Qiu Feng, the Crimson Boneblade (the Wraith Mask) and Lei Dang, the Tiger Cannon (the Tiger Cannon Phantom Edge), and leave by blowing open a wall past Mourning Hall onto the snow that leads to A Soul's Worth. Game8's walkthrough (updated Nov 10, 2026) takes it in 20 steps past 15 bells. On Nov 13, 2026, 39.3% of Steam players had solved the Serpent Head Lock that opens the chapter and 31.7% had passed through Mirage Estate at its end, so about one Steam player in five who reaches the gate has not yet come out the other side.
Next: the ten purple quests to finish before the Serpent Gate, the last chapter the snowy path leads to or how long this chapter took in a timed run.
Before you open the Serpent Gate
The door is the True Ending's deadline, not the chapter's. Entering Mirage Estate closes the purple-icon quests the True Ending needs (Endings), and Game8 names one more casualty on this chapter's page: Whence the Weeping "becomes unavailable once you enter". Make a manual save at the Green Serpent House bell first. Setting the three Serpent pieces is safe on its own; that is the end of The Four Serpent Houses.
The one quest that finishes inside is Bloodline Awakening: its last Long Pillar is at the Mirage Estate Long Pillar bell, in the third stretch below.
The route, bell by bell
Game8's 20 steps fall into three stretches. The bells, in the order you ring them:
- Into the estate. Estate Rear Gate, then Nuo Mask Altar (Yu'er's, Patron Gao's and a Thread-Binding Disciple's Memory Flowers on the way, and a chest hidden behind crates), Below the Fire Tower (the Feather Fan Plume, at the bottom building after the chain slide), Back Hill (a Sha-Chi Amber Fragment and the Nuo Mask Fragment: Sorrow across the bridge), Shaded Bamboo Path, and Zhang's Hideout, where Quick Hand Zhang waits.
- The opera. Opera House, whose door wants a ticket; past the gate, Ritual Wine in the cave and the Executioner's Headscarf in a chest; then the Training Grounds bell, where clearing the yard starts Yuding's fight. The Opera Ticket is by the shrine after her, with the General's Bronze Mirror in a chest and a shortcut back. Inside the opera house take the Gold-and-Silver Sachet, watch the play at the lanterns and take the Jade Mask on the boat.
- The way out. Mourning Hall, where Qiu Feng's fight starts behind the door; Covered Corridor; Mirage Estate Long Pillar (grapple down with the Hunter's Chain Sickle and climb); Willow Pavilion (the Nuo Mask Fragment: Joy, then the Herald and a wave of enemies for the Eye of Insight); Leng Tu's Study (two Books and the item that removes the illusory painting); Perfect Vessel Estate (the Primordial Chaos Vessel, Alloyed Steel and the Golden Cloud-Moon Hairpin); and Perfect Vessel Pond, where the stairs lead to Lei Dang. After him, talk to Yu'er, teleport back to Mourning Hall and break the wall at the end with the Tiger Cannon.
Three bosses
| Boss | Where | Drops | Game8's advice | Steam players, Nov 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yuding, No. 12 Crescent Blade Puppet | Training Grounds | Crescent Blade | Stay behind her during her energy wave | 30.8% have all four Great Puppets |
| Qiu Feng, the Crimson Boneblade | Mourning Hall | Wraith Mask | Perfect dodges against his ranged attacks | No achievement |
| Lei Dang, the Tiger Cannon | Perfect Vessel Pond | Tiger Cannon | Dodge his area attacks, which deal heavy stagger | 32.2% |
Yuding is the one creators warn about. In itzTizzle's Nov 7, 2026 list of the ten toughest bosses, played on Hellwalker, she is seventh: "one of the few bosses in the game that took me more than two tries", whose dark attacks "will break your stance if you get hit by them"; his answer was to keep his distance whenever she went on the offensive.
Lei Dang is the other wall. PCGamesN's Tom Hopkins called him "the toughest boss fight in the game", and his leap sends a wave across the whole arena; more on the late fights is on Hardest Bosses. His Tiger Cannon is a Phantom Edge you need at once, since the chapter's exit is the wall it breaks (Phantom Edges).
Easy to miss here
- Qiu Feng's Memory Flower. Game8 warns to collect it before you leave his area, or progress on Triple Threat moves on without it.
- The illusory painting in Leng Tu's Study. Upstairs, the item beside the second Book removes it, and a Memory Flower waits at the end of the room.
- Yu'er after Lei Dang. Talk to her before you leave; a Memory Flower lies beside her. Her story runs through Side Quests.
Sources
- The Way Forward (Chapter 9) Walkthrough, Game8, updated Nov 10, 2026, read Nov 13, 2026
- Global achievements, Steam, read Nov 13, 2026
- All Phantom Blade Zero bosses in order, PCGamesN (Tom Hopkins), updated Oct 30, 2026
- The Top Ten Toughest Bosses In Phantom Blade Zero, itzTizzle, Nov 7, 2026 (video)
Moments
The Top Ten Toughest Bosses In Phantom Blade Zero
itzTizzle
Related
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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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Diverging PathsDiverging 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.
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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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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.
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OutfitsPhantom Blade Zero has eight outfits for Soul. Two are worn from the start, two belong to the Digital Deluxe Edition, and four are tied to finishing the game: The Hunt, Kindred, Blizzard and Legacy. Guides disagree on which ending gives Blizzard, and one finished run got it with the True Ending. All eight are cosmetic and are changed under Character, Appearance.
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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.
See also
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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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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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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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The Four Serpent HousesThe Four Serpent Houses is the Phantom Blade Zero quest, and by Game8's list the chapter after The Heart's Trail, that opens Mirage Estate: take the Tongue and half the Loong Emblem from the Red Serpent House, the Fang and the other half from the Black, the Eye from the White past Heartpiercer, and set all three in the Green Serpent House door.
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Hardest BossesThe Gold-Masked One is the boss players most often call the hardest in Phantom Blade Zero, with 256 of 534 votes in Game8's reader poll on Nov 12, 2026, while Game8's editors rank Yucong, No. 34 Twisted Puppet first and PCGamesN's guide writer picks Lei Dang. Steam's counts show that the optional fights stop few players, and that the first weapon boss, Peng Meng, is where runs end.
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