Zuo Shang, the Order's Shadow Sovereign
Masters · Mount Soulrend · Chapter 12, A Soul's Worth
Zuo Shang, the Order's Shadow Sovereign is a Mount Soulrend boss in Phantom Blade Zero, met in Chapter 12, A Soul's Worth. The fight goes through 2 forms, ending as Zuo Shang, the True Lóng. Its enemy level on a first playthrough is 25. Beating it gives 180,000 Remnant Dust. The game tells more of its story in Xuan Li's Memory Flower (6 scenes) and Zuo Shang's Game (7 pages).
Zuo Shang's story in the game
Memory flower
Xuan Li's Memory Flower
Conversations with Zuo Shang always lead Xuan Li to new insights, as though invited to observe a game with the struggle between Lóng and the Blight laid out before his eyes.
I. Descendant of the Xuan Clan
- Zuo Shang
You joining the Order is a blessing to the Wulin, Master Xuan Li.
- Zuo Shang
The House of Xuan possesses knowledge of everything under heaven and earth. I have long admired you.
- Xuan Li
You wiped out my brother... and the entire Xuan clan. Yet somehow, I was spared. For that, I thank Shadow Edict Zuo.
- Zuo Shang
It was unavoidable... I trust you understand. Your brother Xuan Yu should never have joined the Eleven.
- Xuan Li
Indeed.
- Zuo Shang
Your clan studied the Celestial Tome for generations. After joining the Order, Shifu had you continue the research day and night.
- Zuo Shang
By now, you must have a deep understanding of the greatest secret —the Lóng and the Blight.
II. Object from Beyond the Heavens
- Xuan Li
According to the Celestial Tome, the Blight is a force of destruction from beyond the stars.
- Xuan Li
It seems to possess a will of its own... or perhaps the will of countless minds.
- Xuan Li
Every fragment is the whole... and the whole resides within every fragment.
- Xuan Li
It spreads among the stars, following one simple rule. Everything it touches is consumed and becomes part of the Blight.
III. "Lóng" and "the Blight"
- Zuo Shang
I've heard that in ages past, the Lóng Clan was no simple name... but a legacy of something real.
- Zuo Shang
And yet how could such a mystical beast exist in this world?
- Xuan Li
As the Blight spreads across the stars, there must also be other things beyond the heavens that stand against it.
- Xuan Li
Perhaps there are visitors from beyond the stars, beings whose knowledge and abilities far surpass our own. They may have created something within our world to restrain the Blight.
- Xuan Li
The ancients, ignorant of its true nature, simply called it "Lóng."
- Zuo Shang
Hm... fascinating. Truly fascinating...
IV. Meng Hua
- Zuo Shang
Lately, many have fallen into endless sleep... all hoping to meet the Lady in their dreams.
- Zuo Shang
If this continues, the Order will inevitably collapse
- Zuo Shang
This Lady... is she connected to the Blight?
- Xuan Li
Among the Eleven was a Phantom Art master named Meng Hua.
- Xuan Li
During the war with the Order, she and Lady Inanis perished together, their consciousnesses dissolving into the Discordance.
- Xuan Li
After Meng Hua's consciousness scattered, it fused with the Blight in the Discordance, becoming what is known as the Lady of the Veil.
V. Fused With the Blight
- Zuo Shang
The Eleven's source of power... those Discordant Shards... did they lead her to merge with the Blight?
- Xuan Li
Yes. In the Discordance, the Discordant Shards are like rotting flesh... and the Blight like flies.
- Xuan Li
Meng Hua... the Lady... she is no longer human, but a horror remerged with the Blight.
- Zuo Shang
By your account, the Lady is just a projection of the Blight... a manifestation of it. Both just a part, and the whole?
- Xuan Li
Precisely.
- Zuo Shang
My grasp of the Celestial Tome is nowhere near your understanding. Still, allow me to ask a simple question...
VI. Control
- Zuo Shang
What if a puppet were to merge with the Blight?
- Xuan Li
A puppet's consciousness is projected from a human mind. Perhaps the Blight cannot affect it.
- Xuan Li
Even if it is affected, one can sever the link to the original body in time and escape.
- Zuo Shang
If the "Blight" is truly as you say... that every part is the whole, and the whole is no different from each part...
- Zuo Shang
Then could a conscious fragment... turn and command the whole?
- Xuan Li
I... That... I've never considered, nor have I ever heard of such a thing.
- Xuan Li
You mean... whether a single will could command the Blight?
- Zuo Shang
In ancient times, fire was as mysterious and terrifying as the Blight is to us now. It was an uncontrollable power that brought only ruin.
- Zuo Shang
Given time, even the forces of heaven and earth become but a candle flame held in the hand.
Book
Zuo Shang's Game
On the board, the pieces are locked in fierce battle. Yet beneath the board, how many years has that hidden move been in play?
Written Orders
Shadow Sovereign Zuo will be passing along the Main Road within the day.
Seal off all key routes along the way immediately. All unauthorized persons are to be driven at least one hundred zhang away.
Anyone who disobeys is to be killed on sight.
Joint Oath Against Enemy
With the Maskwalkers running rampant and the Wulin in decline, we three of the Order hereby swear to stand as one with the Pillars of Kunlun and join them in striking down our common enemy.
In all matters of this alliance, we shall share fortune and hardship alike. In battle, we stand shoulder to shoulder; in danger, we come to one another's aid.
Until the Maskwalkers are destroyed, this alliance shall endure. Let this oath stand clear, with Heaven and Earth as witness!
Zuo Shang (seal)
Yuyin (seal)
An Unsigned Poem
The Green Serpent coils through the ancient house,
Where lies the hidden remnant?
Behind the statue, a secret gate opens,
Leading deep into the Mirage Estate.
An Unsigned Letter
The Order always keeps something in reserve, whether it’s a secret passage or a hidden piece on the board.
The Serpent’s Fang, Tongue, and Eye... I suppose I can only leave the three to you.
Notes on the Discordant Shard
Discordant Shards... ancient... fragment of a weapon...
In the Discordance... like bloodied flesh thrown among sharks, it draws the Blight to itself in an instant... It can also draw limitless Sha-Chi from the Discordance, and so...
Green Serpent House Secret Passage Map
This map shows an ancient passageway connecting the Serpent House and The Mirage Estate; it is a highly classified document belonging to the Order.
The mechanism components required to open the passage are stored separately in the Order's Red, Black, and White Serpent Houses.
Design for the Radiant Heart
[This diagram depicts a mechanical device in the shape of a heart, with a Discordant Shard enclosed at its center. Below it, the words "Radiant Heart" are written.]
Note: According to the Celestial Tome, the Sha-Chi generated by this method is thick and stable; the bearer can control it freely, eliminating the danger of Sha-Chi rebellion or falling into extreme obsession.
Xuan Yu
More of this fight's story is in the memory flower Leng Tu's Memory Flower, on Meng Hua's page.
Zuo Shang's forms
First form
Zuo Shang, the Order's Shadow Sovereign
“组织”冥主：左殇
All these years, they have never been able to determine a winner, much like the unresolved feud between the Lóng Clan and the Bastion of Mó.
There was a time when Zuo Shang no longer cared to see who would prevail. He had planned a better ending for Soul. Neither of them would need to fall to the other’s blade. He would use Shifu’s hand to end Soul, and Soul’s hand to weaken Shifu... After that, with a different Order, he would bring an end to the deadlock that no one had been able to resolve since ancient times.
But Soul went beyond his plans, becoming the one piece he could not overcome through strategy.
Perhaps they were destined to fight with everything they had, destined for one to fall beneath the other’s blade and settle the outcome once and for all. Only then could they do justice to fate, to the talents and power they each possessed, to the bond they had shared for years, and to the generations-long contest between the Lóng Clan and the Bastion of Mó that had never reached its conclusion.
Though they failed to determine a winner on the training ground all those years ago... now they stand upon it once more.
Second form
Zuo Shang, the True Lóng
左殇：真龙之躯
The “True Lóng” Zuo Shang commands is cast in pure gold, with a majestic Loong head and tightly packed golden scales. Through the mysteries of the Radiant Heart, it seems not only able to withstand the Blight’s erosion, but also to protect the consciousness within from its backlash.
Zuo Shang intends to use this body to control the all-devouring Blight.
Everything can serve as a piece: the rampaging Blight, the Herald’s masterful puppetcraft, and the Radiant Heart forged from Discordant Shards... Together, they form a flawless game.
Catastrophe is coming. Someone must tame the disaster and turn it into a power the world can wield. And since he alone dares to conceive of it, dares to act on it, and has the ability to achieve it, he will not squander that gift.
That is why Zuo Shang chose the Hollow Heart. His plan cannot afford to be swayed by emotion. In the struggle between the Lóng and the Blight, hesitation, pity, and personal ties would only compromise the precision of each move.
That is also why he cannot understand Soul’s choice. Soul possesses the same martial talent, yet simply takes things as they come, with no desire to uncover the source of his power or master it. To preserve his human emotions and desires, he would rather choose the Tainted Heart and live for only sixty-six days...
And if he truly lost the only opponent worthy of standing against him, Zuo Shang might find it somewhat empty... Or perhaps, from the moment he began laying his plans, he had already lost the possibility of having a “kindred spirit.”
What beating Zuo Shang gives
180,000 Remnant Dust
Where to find Zuo Shang
Mount SoulrendChapter 12, A Soul's Worth
Nearest bellPhantom of The Old House, 40 m away
