A spoiler-light Phantom Blade Zero guide to getting the Scarlet Wraithblade, routing every Weeping Creek Valley Blackstone Shard, and understanding their value for aggressive action builds.
Image: IGDB
Store links: Phantom Blade Zero on Steam
The strongest early detour in Weeping Creek Valley
The Phantom Blade Zero Scarlet Wraithblade is an early two-handed weapon locked behind an optional puppet boss, while the first full Blackstone upgrade is split across four Blackstone Shards in Weeping Creek Valley. That makes the region’s biggest power spike easy to miss if you follow only the critical path. NintendoSmash identifies the Scarlet Wraithblade as the reward for defeating Hua, Deadly Betrothed in the hidden Flesh Lily Fields area, and also reports that Weeping Creek Valley contains exactly four Blackstone Shards. Collecting all four forms one Blackstone, which permanently increases Soul’s attack power and guard break by 10% and opens new nodes in the first row of the Skill Tree. For action players, the tension is simple: the best early rewards ask you to step away from the main road before your build has fully settled. The Scarlet Wraithblade rewards control, guard pressure, and area denial, while the completed Blackstone raises the baseline of every offensive exchange. This Phantom Blade Zero guide keeps the route spoiler-light, but it does name the relevant bells, optional boss, and combat rewards so you can make the trip without combing the whole valley twice.
How to get Scarlet Wraithblade without losing the route
To get the Scarlet Wraithblade, follow the main story through Weeping Creek Valley until you reach the Valley Sha-Chi Tower. NintendoSmash describes this as a large mechanical pipe tower and places the hidden path beneath it. From the ground floor, move to the back-right side of the tower and look for a hole with a bridge sliding down. Drop through that opening to slide into the lily fields, then after the bridge drop, take the left-side path into Flesh Lily Fields. Hua, Deadly Betrothed waits there, and defeating her awards the Scarlet Wraithblade. Fextralife places the weapon in Weeping Creek Valley as well, with the relevant bell location at Flesh Lily Fields northwest of the Valley Sha-Chi Tower, and lists Hua Deadly Betrothed as the boss reward. IGN also identifies Hua as the optional boss tied to the weapon and notes that the Flesh Lily can be picked up there as part of a Tale. If you are trying to stay light on story spoilers, treat the tower as your routing anchor: reach Valley Sha-Chi Tower through normal progress, find the lower hidden descent, clear the left-hand route after the slide, then commit to the optional fight only when your healing and weapon upgrades are ready.
Preparing for Hua, Deadly Betrothed
NintendoSmash recommends upgrading your main primary weapons to at least Level 4 before challenging Hua, acquiring the Feather Bow, and bringing Focus Pills so you have two medicine types for a total of six heals. That advice fits the encounter’s rhythm. Hua is described by NintendoSmash as a single-phase fight, but her threat comes from forcing you to sort readable pressure from dangerous space control. Her white lily projectiles can be blocked and parried, according to the guide, while her exploding red lily projectiles cannot. Red flowers on the ground punish lingering in the wrong space, so retreating out of range is part of the offense rather than a failure to engage. The clean pattern is to parry her regular strings and blue-flash attacks, build the guard break, then cash out with combos and Sha-Chi attacks. NintendoSmash specifically calls out the Feather Bow Phantom Edge as useful ranged damage, which matters when Hua fills the arena with flowers or forces distance. The attacks to respect are the grab, posture-break tools, and red or black flash attacks. Those should be dodged, because getting clipped can leave you open to the next hit. If your plan is to get the Scarlet Wraithblade as early as possible, do it with enough healing in reserve to learn the projectile colors and enough damage to capitalize when her guard cracks.
Why the Scarlet Wraithblade suits pressure players
IGN lists the Scarlet Wraithblade at 240 base damage and 117 base Guard Break, describing it as a heavy-hitting two-handed weapon with high Shield-Breaking power. Fextralife also characterizes it as a two-handed weapon built around high shield-breaking power and high damage, while noting that the damage and guard break values on its page are shown at Level 30 rather than as base stats. The shared picture across the sources is a weapon meant to win the posture race. Its identity comes from Red Spider Lilies. IGN says Triangle combos leave Red Spider Lilies on the ground, slowing enemies and continuously draining Sha-Chi before exploding after three seconds for damage over time. Fextralife’s description matches that core effect. IGN also lists Rogue Bloomstorm as an L2 Power Surge that consumes one Sha-Chi essence to perform an unblockable slash and cause Red Spider Lilies to bloom across the ground. For players who like clean parry windows into heavy punish strings, the Scarlet Wraithblade adds a territorial layer: you are not only hitting the target, you are making the ground behind your pressure unsafe. There is one small source discrepancy worth knowing before you internalize the move list. IGN describes a four-hit standard combo, while Fextralife lists the standard input as five square presses and the Sha-Chi combo as two triangle presses. The practical takeaway is to test the full string yourself once equipped, especially if you are timing Sha-Chi cancels or looking for the safest point to transition into the weapon’s flower pressure.
Every Weeping Creek Valley Blackstone Shard in a clean route
The Weeping Creek Valley Blackstone Shards are spread across keyed exploration, enemy clears, and post-boss traversal. NintendoSmash states that there are four in the region, while PowerPyx’s collectible overview also lists four Blackstone Shards among Weeping Creek Valley’s 60 collectible locations. The first shard is in a locked cellar outside the Outpost. NintendoSmash places the cellar on the left just before the main Outpost gate, and says you need the Cell Key. From the main outpost bell, head through the main door, take the right path into a house, climb through the window, and pick up the key from the ground beside a body before returning to the cellar. Mobalytics gives a similar route from the Outpost bell, sending players back to the main entrance, down the slope beside the gates, and into the cell door below with the Cell Key. The second shard comes from combat at the Ruthless Archer Camp near the Creek Valley Plains Entrance Bell. NintendoSmash says to defeat every enemy there, with the shard awarded when the final enemy falls, and notes these are the same enemies involved in the Purge the Sect Tale. PowerPyx separately marks Purge the Sect as missable if not completed before the main boss at the end of the Crimson Forest region, so players who care about Tales should not leave that thread hanging. After defeating the Hunt boss and acquiring the Sickles, NintendoSmash says the third and fourth shards become accessible. For the third, cross the bridge past the Long Pillar Overlook Bell, go down to the bottom area, then climb the platform at the end by the waterfall to loot the chest. For the fourth, start again from the Long Pillar Overlook Bell, head left, follow the path beneath the Sha-Chi tower, climb the stairs, and defeat the Bronze Soldiers. The final Bronze Soldier drops the shard.
When to claim the upgrades and when to come back later
The most efficient upgrade route is to clear the Outpost cellar as soon as you have the Cell Key, finish the archer camp when you reach the Creek Valley Plains Entrance Bell, then return to the Long Pillar Overlook paths after the Hunt and Sickles open the relevant route. Mobalytics cautions that its first-visit Weeping Creek Valley walkthrough does not complete the entire region and that some collectibles require later progression, which matches the way NintendoSmash gates the later Blackstone Shards behind the Hunt and Sickles. Do not treat a blocked route as a missed item unless a guide specifically marks it missable. PowerPyx says Weeping Creek Valley is the first region and that everything needed for completion is included in its walkthrough, with missable items called out separately. For the rewards themselves, Blackstone is the safer universal investment. NintendoSmash reports that four shards create one Blackstone and that the finished Blackstone permanently increases attack power and guard break by 10%, making it valuable regardless of which weapon you favor. Scarlet Wraithblade is more style-defining. IGN’s upgrade table lists Scarlet Field at Level 5, extending Red Spider Lily duration to 15 seconds, increasing the maximum number of active flowers, and allowing manual detonation with Circle. IGN then lists Hidden Thorns upgrades at Levels 10 and 20 for increased explosion damage and Sha-Chi depletion, Severed Vows at Level 15 for a Heartless state after Rogue Bloomstorm, and Netherlit Bloom at Level 25 as a charged Triangle option involving a White Spider Lily projectile and a follow-up slash. Fextralife also says Forge can upgrade weapons, and notes Forge is first encountered at the Mandate Outpost in Weeping Creek Valley. If you enjoy steady, aggressive guard damage with arena control, the Scarlet Wraithblade is worth the detour. If you are still deciding on a weapon style, collect the Phantom Blade Zero Blackstone Shards first, because that permanent attack and guard-break boost strengthens every fight that follows.