Who runs the Wulin, who serves whom, and who is hunting Soul. Each faction is described in the site’s words with one line from the game’s own documents, and lists the characters who belong to it.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 against the launch game’s own text
A secret organisation founded by Mu Tianmiao that stands with neither the righteous nor the wicked. It kills those no one else can kill, saves those no one else can save, and keeps the Wulin’s unwritten rules. Its leader is the Shadow Sovereign; its trained killers are the Shadow Wardens. Soul was its sharpest blade.
“The Order kills those no one else can kill. It saves those no one else can save.”
In-game document: The Order
What the story reveals later
After Mu Tianmiao’s death Zuo Shang takes over as Shadow Sovereign, and Mu Xiaokui leaves with those still loyal to her father.
The alliance of the righteous sects. The Lóng clan founded it with eighteen sects and it grew past a hundred and seventy. When the Maskwalker crisis broke out nine years ago it led the fight, achieved little and lost heavily, and its leadership has rotted since.
“A vast alliance made up of major sects in the Wulin.”
Yuyin, Huangxing and Moji of the Kunlun sect, sent east by the Mandate to rally the smaller sects against the Maskwalkers. A year ago they fought the four great Maskwalkers in the Crimson Forest together with The Order.
“Senior Sister Yuyin, Second Brother Huangxing, and Junior Brother Moji of the Kunlun Sect are known together as the Three Pillars of Kunlun.”
In-game document: Who Are the Pillars of Kunlun?
What the story reveals later
Since then Huangxing has turned, Yuyin is dead, and Moji has been sealed in a clay statue.
A sect from beyond the passes that can move part of a living person’s mind into a puppet and make it obey. Defeated by the Mandate long ago, it is back, and its eastern branch answers to the Herald.
“The Thread-Binding Sect can use the Soul Displacement Art to extract part of a living person's consciousness and bind it to a puppet. This allows the puppet to move freely and appear completely lifelike without the need for strings, while obeying its master's every command without question.”
A folk faith that spread two or three years ago: people tie red flowers over the faces of statues and pray to the Lady of the Veil for help. Her envoy is the Herald.
“The Lady of the Veil is a divine spirit of great compassion, bringing relief to the suffering of the world. Her emissary, the Herald, often ties red blossoms to the faces of Buddha statues, allowing the Lady to witness the suffering of humankind.”
In-game document: [the Lady’s Sacred Scroll] I: Pang Sheng Meets the Lady
What the story reveals later
The Lady is what became of Meng Hua of the Eleven, her mind fused with the Blight in the Discordance.
A school of illusionists who worship the Lady of the Veil, led by the High Elder. Four Acolytes, each with an element, watch the regions for him and hunt those who desert.
Masters who gathered at Soulrend Cliff to study the Celestial Tome and turned on each other at the sound of a bell. The survivors formed the Eleven, spread Transcension across the Wulin, and were brought down one by one by The Order.
“Many years ago, masters from every corner of the Wulin flocked to Soulrend Cliff to view a surviving fragment of the Celestial Tome. There, maddened by the tolling of a strange bell, they turned on one another—and the cliff ran with rivers of blood.”
Once the only ‘dark path’ power that could stand against the Lóng clan: a people of strange blood who sheltered outcasts and rebels. It burned more than thirty years ago. Its last lord was Mó Yuan.
“The Bastion of Mó was once the only outlaw power in the Wulin capable of rivaling the Lóng Clan.”
The first family of the Wulin and founder of the Mandate, which grew rich in trade and quietly held the Wulin’s purse strings. The Order split it from within and it scattered.
“The Lóng Clan stood at the head of the Mandate and was widely regarded as the foremost family in the Wulin.”
In-game document: The Lóng Clan
Every smaller sect in the Wulin
The Baishan Sect
An old righteous sect nearly wiped out years ago, rebuilt by its head Bi Taotao, who led her disciples into the Pillars of Kunlun’s campaign. Many of its women disciples now turn up as Maskwalkers and puppets.
“Founded several centuries ago, the Baishan Sect was once one of the great sects of the Wulin and a pillar of the righteous path.”
Seven swordsmen led by their Chief Disciple, fighting as one in the shape of the Dipper. Once of the Mandate, they were pushed out over the Chief Disciple’s love for a woman of the demonic sect.
“With the Chief Disciple at their head, the seven wield their swords as one, arrayed in the shape of the Northern Dipper, hence the name Seven-Star Formation. After Perfect Transcension, they became bound by Sha-Chi, their movements in attack and retreat perfectly synchronized.”
The crew that guarded Pangzhen’s waterways, led by You Loong. To help the Mandate against the Maskwalkers it mixed its water arts with Perfect Transcension, and its members changed.
Twelve rich merchants of Pangzhen built a guild house together and later turned it into the Mirage Estate, a theatre of a hundred plays.
“Wealthy merchants came here in droves to buy property and settle down. Twelve local magnates even built a small merchant guild hall together, which was later expanded into the Mirage Estate, a venue for grand performances.”
Four sworn brothers led by Peng Meng, branded as killers by the Mandate.
“Eldest of the Four Axes, Peng Meng underwent Transcension to avenge the other three. His body grew massive, his flesh hardened, and his strength became immense. His great axe could split stone and sunder mountains. Several Mandate elites fell beneath it.”
People driven mad by Transcension, who wear masks to hold the killing urge down. The Maskwalker crisis broke out nine years ago. A year ago The Order and the Pillars of Kunlun fought the four great Maskwalkers in the Crimson Forest; all four are still there.
“Nine years ago, the Maskwalker crisis erupted, spreading fear and unrest throughout the Wulin. The Mandate rallied its forces against the Maskwalkers, but achieved little and suffered heavy losses, leaving the alliance on the verge of falling apart.”
The forest where The Order and the Pillars of Kunlun fought the four great Maskwalkers a year ago, with a thieves’ camp and the Mirrorwood. Walkthrough
A realm apart from the Waking Realm, where a mind can make things real and the dead can linger.
“The Discordance is a realm apart, where time and space operate by different rules from those of the Waking Realm. As countless Illusionists of the Phantom Arts continued to reach into and open the Discordance, its vastness and complexity gradually revealed themselves.”
In-game document: The Discordance
Frequently asked questions
What is The Order in Phantom Blade Zero?
A secret organisation founded by Mu Tianmiao that kills those no one else can kill and saves those no one else can save. Soul was its sharpest blade.
What is the Mandate?
The alliance of the righteous sects, founded by the Lóng clan. It led the fight against the Maskwalkers and lost heavily.
Who are the Maskwalkers?
People driven mad by Transcension, who wear masks to hold the killing urge down.
What is the Discordance?
A realm apart from the Waking Realm, where a mind can make things real and the dead can linger.
Sources for this page 1
Phantom Blade ZeroOfficial Phantom Blade Zero launch build: the game’s own dialogue, documents, bestiary, quest log and loading screens, read 3 November 2026. Quotes are the game’s English text, unchanged.
