The last climb of Phantom Blade Zero is short, cold, and unforgiving: a single snow mountain that stacks three mandatory fights, one irreversible checkpoint, and — if your flags are set — the true final boss behind a gold portal. Everything you failed to finish in the Wulin below is now permanently out of reach, so treat the ascent as a checklist run, not a sightseeing trip.
Story context: what Mount Soulrend actually is
Mount Soulrend is the final region of the game, covering chapters 11–12, “A Soul’s Worth.” It is the seat of the Mandate’s last stronghold and the place where the conspiracy that framed Soul finally surfaces. The Saw and the Crusher block the Giant’s Lair on the lower slopes. Leng Tu, the Herald, waits above. Meng Hua is the Normal ending’s final boss, and per pbz.gg fights alongside Leng Tu rather than as a lone duelist.
If the True Ending flags are set, a gold portal at Soulrend Cliff opens The Fallen Dream, where Zuo Shang — architect of the frame-up and of the Lóng/Blight scheme — is the true final boss. Without those flags, the run ends at Meng Hua.
Step-by-step route through Mount Soulrend
The ascent is linear, but the order in which you ring bells and finish side content matters. Follow this sequence.
- Ring Mountain God Temple. This is the region’s first bell and your entry checkpoint. Climb from here.
- Ring The Last Mandate Encampment. Meet Spectral Blade here — this encounter only occurs if you completed A Severed Mindseal back in Weeping Creek Valley. Finish Cui’s tale at this camp.
- Ring The Giant’s Lair. Defeat Saw and Crusher. They drop Bonesaw. If Cui’s tale is done, you also receive the Baishan Headband here.
- Ring The Last Chance. This is the final point of no return. Do not ring it until every remaining tale, collectible, and optional objective on your list is closed out.
- Defeat Leng Tu. The Herald is a mandatory fight on the way up to Soulrend Cliff.
- Defeat Meng Hua. Drops Lady’s Fan, Lady’s Crown, and Herald’s Lingering Threads. This triggers the Normal ending.
- If flagged, take the gold portal. It appears at Soulrend Cliff and leads to The Fallen Dream.
- Defeat Zuo Shang. Drops Aureate, Broken Long Body, and Radiant Heart. This triggers the True ending.
Mandatory bosses on the mountain
Three fights cannot be avoided, and a fourth is unavoidable if you are chasing the True Ending.
| Boss | Location | Reward | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saw and Crusher | The Giant’s Lair | Bonesaw; Baishan Headband (if Cui done) | Dodge all red attacks; snow clouds obscure visibility for 2–3 seconds |
| Leng Tu | Soulrend Cliff | — | Five-stage gauntlet; save heals for the later stages |
| Meng Hua | Soulrend Cliff | Lady’s Fan, Lady’s Crown, Herald’s Lingering Threads | Fights alongside Leng Tu per pbz.gg; KeenGamer lists Leng Tu as a separate boss |
| Zuo Shang (true final) | The Fallen Dream | Aureate, Broken Long Body, Radiant Heart | Only reachable via the gold portal with True Ending flags set |
Note the source conflict on Leng Tu: KeenGamer treats him as a standalone boss, while pbz.gg describes him as a co-fighter alongside Meng Hua. Both agree he is mandatory. Plan for a long, multi-stage encounter either way.
Optional bosses and detours
Mount Soulrend itself has no optional bosses listed in the research. The optional content that matters here is the Spectral Blade encounter and Cui’s tale, both of which are gated on earlier progress:
- Spectral Blade — appears at The Last Mandate Encampment only if A Severed Mindseal was completed in Weeping Creek Valley.
- Cui — finishing this tale at the encampment is what upgrades the Saw and Crusher drop to include the Baishan Headband.
If you skipped either prerequisite, there is no way to recover them now. The mountain does not offer a second chance.
Tales and collectibles on Mount Soulrend
The region is thin on collectibles compared to earlier areas. What exists is tied to the two NPC threads above.
- Cui’s tale — finish at The Last Mandate Encampment before ringing The Last Chance.
- Spectral Blade — conditional meeting, gated on A Severed Mindseal.
- Boss drops — Bonesaw, Baishan Headband, Lady’s Fan, Lady’s Crown, Herald’s Lingering Threads, and (True Ending) Aureate, Broken Long Body, Radiant Heart.
No Memory Flowers, Lóng Pillars, Acolyte masks, or Crystal Eyes are located on Mount Soulrend. Those all belong to earlier regions. If you are still missing any of them, the mountain is not where you will find them.
What is missable before leaving
This is the section to read twice. The final checkpoint is unforgiving.
Before ringing The Last Chance:
- Finish Cui’s tale at The Last Mandate Encampment.
- Meet Spectral Blade if A Severed Mindseal is done.
- Confirm every purple-icon quest from earlier regions is complete. The True Ending checklist requires all of them done before entering Mirage Estate, which is earlier than Soulrend — but if you somehow carried an unfinished tale this far, this is your last window.
- Verify all five Lóng Pillars are done (Weeping, Crimson, Meigu east island, Phantom Illusionist Ruins, Mirage Estate).
- Verify Zhu Yuan and Bi Feng are defeated.
- Verify all four Acolyte masks and both Crystal Eyes (Yin from Mountain of Imprisonment, Yang from Crimson Manor) are collected.
- Verify the mirror in west Meigu has been used, both eyes placed, the Illusory Pipa repaired with Myst, and the three Serpent keys collected.
Before entering the gold portal:
- Save manually. The portal is the True Ending trigger.
- Confirm you want to end the run. There is no post-portal free roam until the ending resolves.
Next region: what comes after
There is no next region. Mount Soulrend is the end of the main story. Defeating Meng Hua triggers the Normal ending; defeating Zuo Shang through the gold portal triggers the True ending and the With Heart and Blood gold trophy.
After the credits, New Game+ unlocks on Hellwalker difficulty. You start by fast-travelling to the Puppet Cell in the Mountain of Imprisonment and speaking to Inanis. Weapons, Phantom Edges, accessories, medicine, the skill tree, materials, collectibles, and lore carry over; story, side quests, key items, the map, and bells reset. The 66 Days mode is a separate post-game Hellwalker variant where 66 deaths means permadeath.
If you still have cleanup — Memory Flowers, accessories, weapon and Phantom Edge tempering, the Banyan challenges, the Great Puppets, Shadow Wardens, or Misty Waters bosses — do it in post-story free roam before starting NG+.
Sources & confidence
Primary sources are PowerPyx’s played-order guide and True Ending guide, Fextralife’s Game Progress Route and boss pages, pbz.gg’s boss entries for Mu Xiaokui, Huangxing, Lei Dang, and Zuo Shang, and KeenGamer’s boss-and-rewards list. The biggest uncertainty is the exact True Ending flag set: it is guide-derived rather than datamined, and sources disagree on whether Quick Hand’s Request is required. The Leng Tu encounter structure — solo boss versus co-fighter with Meng Hua — is also unresolved between KeenGamer and pbz.gg.
Sources & further reading
- Phantom Blade Zero walkthrough — PowerPyx
- All bosses and rewards — KeenGamer
- Boss order by region — Kungfupunk
- Phantom Blade Zero wiki — Fextralife
We link to the primary source for every hard number. If a source conflicts, we say so in the text.
By the PBZ Guide Team · Reviewed by the editorial desk This page was translated with editorial review. Spot an error? Tell us. We link to the primary source for every hard number. If a source conflicts, we say so in the text.