Soft Snake Sword.

Defence is the style of Soft Snake Sword, a bendable blade: it lets the enemy commit, then returns the strike.

Wu Lengshuang once owned the sword, and it battles as she did: yielding yet never broken. Most weapons demand that you push your advantage, whereas this one has you await the enemy's swing and respond in the final instant. Blade flowers flourish to deflect a strike, and a harder swing from the enemy makes your reply worth more.

This suits it well against lone enemies whose attack strings you already know, and badly against crowds. Since holding the guard stance uses no Sha-Chi, you can also stand your ground without draining the resource that your arts rely on.

Because Phantom Blade Zero has no published 0–100 bars for stats, this page gives the weapon's numbers as they stand at level 1.

These numbers are taken from values the game itself lists for level 1; they were not confirmed through play.

Before you start:

• Defeat Wu Lengshuang

1. Travel to the Mandate Encampment and head for the arena in The Confinement, where Wu Lengshuang is waiting.
2. Beat Wu Lengshuang. Winning the fight yields the sword, along with a Blackstone Fragment.

Timing is the core of this weapon, meaning the choice between pressing and holding the stance.

Serpentine Reversal

Hit the button shortly before an enemy blow connects, and the blade sends up a burst of blade flowers, dissolving the strike and hurling its force back at whoever delivered it. Results scale with timing: reading it sharply gives back more damage, going a moment early whiffs on empty space, and being half a beat late costs you the hit.

The guard stance and Serpentine Flow

Standing in the guard stance drains no Sha-Chi, and dodging out of it becomes a lighter sidestep. Making a Perfect Dodge from the stance lets you dodge repeatedly, so a single clean read can lead into another. Forceful pushing has no place in this style; it picks an opponent's rhythm apart beat by beat.

Wild Serpent Dance

For 1 Sha-Chi you get an unblockable active art. Under ordinary use it is a flowing dance of the pliant blade, yet if performed with exact timing right before an enemy strike lands it becomes much fiercer, matching the weapon's emphasis on timing.

Final Gambit

After Soul Tempering, holding the input spends every point of your Sha-Chi on a fast run of sword blows. Committing more Sha-Chi makes that run stronger.

Perks from levelling

Every upgrade adds one weapon level, capped at level 60. Listed levels are where these abilities become available.

Soul Tempering

Strengths

• An enemy's attack is redirected at them by Serpentine Reversal, which means that a clean read avoids damage and inflicts it too.
• Because the guard stance uses no Sha-Chi, a pattern can be waited out without draining your arts.
• When timed right before a hit lands, Wild Serpent Dance, which cannot be blocked, grows stronger.
• Dodging perfectly out of the stance permits dodges in succession.

Weaknesses

• Timing is where its strength lies, so a misread attack leaves you struck or slashing at nothing.
• Aggressive, forceful play is a poor fit; patience is what the stance favours, not pressure.

Best used for

• Boss duels against a single enemy whose attack rhythm is familiar.
• Those who enjoy parrying and countering above unbroken combo chains.

Drawn, this pliant sword sways as if it were alive. Wu Lengshuang owned it, and it shared her manner: yielding, never snapped.