Phantom Blade Zero Aureate: Zuo Shang's Golden Blade and the Swords It Leaves in Enemies

Getting the Aureate

Defeat Zuo Shang, the Order's Shadow Sovereign, in the Mount Soulrend region — on the True Ending route. IGN's weapons table lists the route condition explicitly, so this is a late unlock rather than an early one, and the endings page has the eight outcomes and the True Ending checklist.

The Soul Tempering material is gated the same way. Broken Lóng Body is only obtainable on the Final Battle route: the guides list "Secrets at the Heart of the Lake" plus all five Lóng Pillar trials before the Leng Tu fight, so completing the temper needs the late-game route too.

It counts as a One-Handed Blade on the Blade roster.

What it does in a fight

The community database figures for the launch build, current as of 2026-11-05:

Those are the figures IGN and beebom both publish. It is Zuo Shang's blade, a pure-gold longsword that the Chinese wiki describes as smooth as silk and able to imitate his signature golden sword aura, and its identity is the swords it leaves in enemies:

• Golden Long Sword — switching to the weapon, or perfectly parrying an enemy's blue-flash attack, summons a huge golden long sword that strikes the enemy. GamesDB.gg renders the name with the accent, "Golden Lóng Sword".
• Living Sword — a heavy attack in the combo summons a floating sword that stabs the enemy 3 seconds later. If the enemy does not block, the sword stays lodged for 20 seconds, and five stacked swords trigger a Sword-Qi Explosion.
• Radiant Long Sword Formation — spends 1 Sha-Chi Essence to summon a host of floating swords at the enemy, and the attack cannot be blocked. GamesDB.gg renders this one as "Radiant Lóng Sword Formation", and Game8 spells the first one "Golden Long Sword".

Moves: Standard Combo, Sha-Chi Combo.

Taking it to level 30

Strategist: Ranged Assault is the heart of the Blade: it opens a Formation stance in which you dodge backwards as an attack lands and counter with four floating swords. Holding the stance keeps it but slowly drains Sha-Chi, being hit while in Formation consumes all of your current Sha-Chi to nullify that hit and retreat, and Formation does not interrupt the combo you are in. Formation Breaker at level 15 swaps the summoned prop for a giant hammer, and Iron Wall at level 25 for a tracking umbrella shield that also attacks. A Thousand Blades Lv. 1, Lv. 2 and Lv. 3 make the Sword-Qi lodged in an enemy raise all the damage it takes, slightly, moderately and greatly.

Guides rank the Aureate near the top of the game's weapons, with the True Ending requirement as the only real drawback. The parry guide covers the blue-flash parry that summons the golden sword, and the best weapons page has the general-purpose picks.

What the upgrade ladder costs

The track runs 59 steps from level 1 to level 60 and costs Remnant Dust plus a metal and a solvent:

The published figures for this Blade name those three metal and solvent tiers but not the Remnant Dust price of each band, so check the cost on the upgrade screen before you spend.

Soul Tempering

The Grand Design — a Broken Lóng Body and 5,000 Remnant Dust. Every Sword-Qi Explosion then grants a Formation buff that upgrades the next summoned prop: five pistols, a flaming giant hammer, or a tracking umbrella. Soul Tempering unlocks at Chapter 4 and happens at Myst in the Order's underground tavern in Pangzhen, and it cannot be undone.

Where to go next

• The Blade roster — every Blade, its class and where it comes from.
• Endings — the eight outcomes and the True Ending checklist.
• Best weapons — the picks for bosses, crowds and shields.
• Phantom Edges — the two second-slot weapons that go with your Blades.