Quick answer: Get the Flesh Lily before the Village of Lu, agree to Old Man Gen’s request before the Pangzhen backstreet, finish Crimson Forest business before the Mirage Estate bridge, and finish both ending quests before fighting Leng Tu.
Phantom Blade Zero rarely warns you before a quest or reward closes. The missables below each have a known cut-off, so check them before the moments listed.
| Missable | Where | What closes it | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flesh Lily | Weeping Creek Valley | Reaching the Village of Lu | Flesh Lily guide |
| The Journey Home | Village of Lu | Reaching the Pangzhen backstreet on step one | The Journey Home |
| Crimson Forest bells | Pangzhen backstreet | Crossing the Mirage Estate bridge | Heart of the Fist, Use It Against Them |
| Ending quests | Lake and Lóng Pillars | Starting the Leng Tu fight | endings guide |
| Daughter of the Dark Sect | Mandate Encampment | Killing Red | Daughter of the Dark Sect |
| Hero’s Lament | Mountain of Imprisonment | Liu Yi dying | Hero’s Lament |
| The Undying Heroic Spirit | Six Mandate masters | Finishing a master when it is not kneeling | The Undying Heroic Spirit |
Flesh Lily (before the Village of Lu)
The Flesh Lily comes from Yu’er’s tale in Weeping Creek Valley. You need to beat Hua, Deadly Betrothed at the Flesh Lily Fields first, because the Twin Flesh Lilies only appear once she is gone.
Arriving in the Village of Lu closes the tale’s find step, and the Twin Flesh Lilies vanish from the fields. Yu’er herself also leaves the Crimson Forest thieves’ camp once the tale Leave None Alive changes the camp.
Without the lily, the scene at Yu’er’s home in Pangzhen plays out differently. The achievements are affected too: The Healer’s Legacy needs this tale along with Apprentice Healer and A Healer’s Mercy.
The Journey Home (before the Pangzhen backstreet)
Old Man Gen’s quest in the Village of Lu fails if you reach the Pangzhen backstreet, at the end of the main quest Town of Death, while it is still on its first step. That step reads either “Clear the Smuggler’s Tunnel, then return to Old Man Gen” or “Return to Village of Lu and tell Old Man Gen about the passage”.
To keep it alive, go back to Gen after the tunnel and accept his request: pick “Immediately agree to Old Man Gen’s request” and then “Agree to Old Man Gen’s Request”. You receive Old Man Gen’s Brass Key, and the quest continues into the backstreet instead of failing. The key’s card reads: “An old key passed down through generations, older even than Old Man Gen himself.”
Failing it costs you the War Wagon Phantom Edge, Gen’s memory flower and the achievement Together Till the End.
The Mirage Estate bridge
In the Pangzhen backstreet, a bridge about 120 m from the Green Serpent House bell leads on to the Mirage Estate. If Secrets at the Heart of the Lake is unfinished, Inanis stops you there with two options: “There’s still unfinished business. Return later.” and “No turning back now. Forward it is!” The first sends you back with nothing changed. With the lake quest done, no warning appears at all.
Crossing switches off a set of Crimson Forest bells, including:
- Parting Mists
- Mirrorwood Depths
- Threadbound Great Tree
- Burial Grounds
- The Sha-Chi Tower bells
Two tales have steps right beside those bells. Heart of the Fist uses the Iron Fist Master’s gravestone, about 39 m from the Burial Grounds bell, and Use It Against Them has a step at the Crimson Forest Sha-Chi Tower. With the bells switched off, it is safest to finish both, and any other Crimson Forest business, before you cross.
The ending quests (before Leng Tu)
Your ending is locked in the moment the battle with Leng Tu, Herald of the Veil begins. Two quests need to be done before then.
- Secrets at the Heart of the Lake, including the talk with Inanis in the Realm of Mirage afterwards, which gives the Violet Blossom. This decides whether you avoid the Annihilation ending.
- All five Lóng Pillar trials of Bloodline Awakening, which the Final Battle ending also needs.
Daughter of the Dark Sect (keep Red alive)
Red lies wounded in the Mandate Encampment, about 11 m from the Dovecote bell. A fight with her, listed as “Red, the Mysterious Swordswoman”, can start before she leaves. Killing her ends the rest of her story.
Spare her and her memory flower appears near the Tower Rear Exit bell once the Seven-Stars Formation is beaten, giving the memory “I. THE MANDATE’S DECISION” and a Sha-Chi accessory. She also shows up again before the final battle.
Hero’s Lament (keep Liu Yi alive)
Hero’s Lament on the Mountain of Imprisonment depends on Liu Yi staying alive. If he dies, the tale fails and takes its reward, the Ink Cut Phantom Edge, with it.
The Undying Heroic Spirit (finish masters while they kneel)
Each of the six Mandate masters kneels partway through its fight. Its memory flower only appears if you finish it while it is kneeling. Finish it any other way and that master leaves no flower.
The quest pays out Hero’s Courage after any three of the six flowers, so one missed flower does not sink it. Beating masters before you have the quest does not fail it either, since their flowers wait for you.
For every other tale in the game, head to the full list of all side quests.
