Ye Wanshan is a four-star campaign boss in Where Winds Meet who fights on horseback, weaving sword and glaive strikes together at high speed. His attacks are cleanly telegraphed, so the fight rewards patient deflecting over aggressive chasing. Beat him by holding your ground, parrying his red attacks, dodging his gold attacks, and using a ranged weapon to keep pressure on while he circles the arena.
Quick answer: Stay near the center of the arena. Deflect his red attacks a beat after they flash, dodge (never block) his gold attacks, and kite him with a ranged weapon like the Vernal Umbrella when he rides too far. Draining his Qi bar exhausts him and opens an Execute.
How to unlock the Ye Wanshan fight in Bodhi Sea
Ye Wanshan is tied to the Bodhi Sea campaign, located in the far north of the Qinghe region inside the Sundara Land area. Bodhi Sea itself is a misty swamp, and you cannot see into it from the surrounding mountains or shores. You have to approach on foot, since the swamp only lets you walk. Watch for crocodiles in the murky water and use Wind Sense to avoid them, because you cannot dodge or jump away once they close in.
Inside Bodhi Sea, your task is to ring three drums scattered across the area. They do not appear on the map, so listen for the sound. When a drum plays in the distance, a HUD element shows a soundwave pointing toward it. A fourth drum in the center is played by an NPC and cannot be interacted with. Be careful with enemies here, since they briefly revive after death and unleash a final flurry of attacks before their health drains on its own.
After all three drums are struck, return to the drummer in the center. He is gone, your character faints, and you wake in a dreamlike ruined village. Walk through it to the Hero’s Tomb, and the arena beyond is where Ye Wanshan appears. You can retry the fight as many times as you want, and you can leave through the pause menu if you are not ready.
Read the attack colors: red deflects, gold dodges
The whole fight runs on two rules. Red attacks can be deflected for a counter, and gold attacks can only be dodged. His red attacks always carry a slight delay, so parrying the instant they flash gets you hit. Wait for the wind-up and deflect a moment after the flash to trigger the counter and chip his Qi bar.
| Attack color | Response | Timing cue |
|---|---|---|
| Red | Deflect for a counterattack | Wait for the wind-up, then deflect just after the flash |
| Gold | Dodge only (cannot be blocked or parried) | Watch his animation; some gold moves have no warning flash |
Phase one: parry the sweeps and bait the mounted attacks
In the first phase, Ye Wanshan fights with both a sword and a glaive, though most of his strikes come from the glaive. He and his horse share one health bar, so it does not matter where you hit. He rides back and forth constantly, so hold near the middle of the arena to keep baiting his passes.
His most common move is a drive-by sweep, where he drags the glaive along the ground as he rides past. Deflect the moment you see the weapon drop toward the floor. He often chains this into two more slashes or stops to slam the glaife down, so stay ready to deflect again immediately after the first hit lands.
His signature red attack has him bang both weapons together while the horse rears back, then perform a cross slash that sends a shockwave across the arena. The wind-up is long. Use the horse as your cue: when it stops kicking and looks toward the ground while the weapons flash red, that is your deflect window. He also has an airborne red attack where he and the horse leap high and drive both weapons into the ground. Watch the tip of the glaive light up red at the peak of the jump, then deflect.
Phase two: dodge the fire, keep deflecting
Once his first health bar empties, Ye Wanshan transitions straight into phase two, and both he and his horse catch fire. His old moves return in stronger, extended versions, and the flames make it harder to spot when to deflect. His attacks now deal fire damage as well.
The first thing he does in phase two is Flaming Meteor, a gold sequence that cannot be blocked. He engulfs himself in fire, leaps into the sky, and throws his flaming glaive at you, then jumps to the weapon for a second explosion on landing. When the glaive tip flashes bright yellow, put as much distance between you and him as possible. Move diagonally as he jumps, dodge in that direction when the spear flies, then keep moving away from the landing spot for the follow-up.
He gains a mounted red charge, too. He takes a jouster’s stance and rushes you, striking with his sword rather than the glaive as he arrives. If you already have distance, stop moving when the weapon first flashes red, wait as he closes in, and deflect only as the second red flash from the sword fades. His aerial red slam works just like the phase-one version, so deflect a moment after the flash. If the fire makes it hard to read, the unburning main body of his staff glows red just before he jumps.
Tip: If you have the Cloud Steps Mystic Art equipped, a prompt appears just before his charge begins. Cast it in time to leap above him, cancel the charge, and land a counterattack. You need to be at mid-range for this to work, because the flaming sword still clips you if you try it from too far away.
Don’t chase him: kite with the Vernal Umbrella and ranged weapons
Ye Wanshan’s horse gives him huge movement speed, so running after him only wastes stamina and ruins your positioning. Stay grounded and let him come to you. Wait for his sweep attacks so you can parry them, and punish whenever he finishes a mounted rush. Steadily draining his Qi is what exhausts him and opens the Execute.
When he rides to the far side of the arena, switch to ranged attacks to keep the pressure up without repositioning. The Vernal Umbrella is a strong pick for this, and fire arrows are useful for building burning damage on him as he circles. The Panacea Fan, Inkwell Fan, and Soulshade Umbrella all work well for kiting him and dealing consistent damage as he charges past.
For companions, Elder Gongsun is a good choice. His high-mobility moves let him close the gap and keep chasing Ye Wanshan across the battlefield, dealing Qi damage that sets up a powerful Execute.
Rewards and how to finish Bodhi Sea
Defeating Ye Wanshan for the first time returns you to Bodhi Sea, where the malignant aura clears so you can see the swamp and jump freely again. Before leaving, enter the newly opened tower to finish the quest. This unlocks a new Lightness Mystic Skill along with Ye Wanshan’s dagger, which can be gifted to one of his followers if you track them down later.
| First-clear reward | Amount |
|---|---|
| Echo Jade | 50 |
| Buddha’s Light Jade: Yin | 1 |
| Medicinal Tales | 1 |
| Zhou Coin | 30,000 |
| Fury Harvest: Tome | 1 |
| Oscillating Jade | 5 |
| Character EXP | 30,000 |
| Kaifeng Exploration Points | 100 |
Beating him also unlocks his Campaign Challenge, where you can re-fight him and spend energy on exclusive resources. That mode offers Jadeware tiered gear, a Bodhi Sea cosmetic chest, a Crimson Leaves chest, Oscillating Jade, coin, and character EXP, plus the Flaming Meteor Mystic Skill for defeating him multiple times.
You know the fight is won when his second health bar empties and the dream arena fades back to the cleared Bodhi Sea swamp. If he keeps beating you, the usual culprit is deflecting his red attacks too early, or trying to block the gold Flaming Meteor sequence, which is impossible to parry. Slow your parry timing to a beat after each red flash, dodge every gold move, and let the ranged pressure carry you through the fire phase.
