Yubi Boss Guide: No. 21 Swordfighter Puppet Duel

Who Is Yubi, No. 21 Swordfighter Puppet?

Yubi (廿一号·剑偶：“玉璧”) is the No. 21 Swordfighter Puppet — spelling and numbering confirmed across Rock Paper Shotgun’s compendium (boss #37), Game8, GameSpot, and pbz.gg — and the most human fight in the Mandate Encampment, because she used to be one. pbz.gg describes a Vessel-class puppet with bladed lower legs whose face still carries Bi Taotao’s features, black hair flowing, Stormswords in hand, wind and thunder trailing every strike. The Archive tells the tragedy: the grandmaster rushed to denounce Perfect Transcension, walked into a trap, and had her memories drawn out until only emptiness remained.

Wuxiapunk’s documented cutscene makes it explicit: the defeated puppet asks, “Who… who am I?” — Soul answers, “You’re Bi Taotao, Grandmaster of the Baishan Sect.” She is an optional boss met in Chapter 5, Hero or Heretic, at enemy level 20 on a first playthrough (pbz.gg), with 139,000 HP on AllThingsHow’s Pathbreaker table and a payout of 120,000 Remnant Dust.

Reaching the Training Grounds Duel

Yubi waits at the Training Grounds in the northern Mandate Encampment, 59 m from its bell per pbz.gg — but the route is gated twice. First, the Training Grounds Key comes from the Chief Disciple of the Seven-Stars Formation, boss #35 in Rock Paper Shotgun’s ordering. Second, the fight is the finale of Secrets of the Baishan Sect: after Wu Lengshuang falls, the tale sends you to examine Bi Taotao’s body in the flower field. Per Keengamer, inspect the body before defeating Yubi or the tale fails.

With the body examined and the key in hand, unlock the red door, activate the Training Grounds bell, and descend into the arena. One post-fight note from The Games Wiki: Yubi points toward a building — follow her indication to complete the tale, not the reward screen.

Moveset: Three Strings, One Kick

Game8 breaks Yubi down to three fast combos ending in a parryable blue-glint strike — learn each string’s opener, anticipate the final hit, and convert it into a Ghoststep counter:

She can chain these onto longer strings, but the blue-glint strike is always the final hit — recognize the string, and you know exactly when to deflect.

The unblockables are the real exam. Her signature is an unblockable flipping kick: a distinct forward-flipping animation with a red glint, usable from neutral or combo enders. Per Game8, a perfect dodge against it triggers a counterattack that shaves around 15 to 20 percent of her Guard meter — the best punish in the fight. Her second unblockable telegraphs further out: kneeling low spins into an unblockable thrust — see the spins, prepare the dodge. PCGamesN adds the aerial rhythm: electrical spin attacks with a red attack right after, and a red attack lands immediately after she jumps into the sky or onto the arena roof — never celebrate her leaving the ground.

Strategy: Patience Beats Strings

Game8’s headline advice is blunt: be patient and time your blocks. Yubi’s strings are fast enough that trading hits loses, but every one ends on your terms if you wait for the blue glint. Hold your ground through the opening swings, parry the finisher, Ghoststep counter, then disengage before the next string. Save aggression for the flipping kick — that perfect dodge is your Guard-break engine. Recent Pathbreaker no-damage uploads on YouTube confirm the rhythm: defenders win this duel, attackers feed it.

Rewards: Baishan Stormswords and More

The drop table is stacked. Baishan Stormswords — the Baishan Sect’s sacred-treasure dual-wield, 312 Damage / 142 Status Effects at level 1 per Game8, with Wind and Thunder gauges that merge into Baishan’s Blessing — are detailed at our Baishan Stormswords guide. You also receive the Broken Vessel accessory (+15% damage on Sha-Chi combos that consume Sha-Chi, per Wuxiapunk), the Illusory Pipa Backplate part for Myst’s repair quest (GameSpot), and several Memory Flowers. Keengamer’s boss-and-trophy list credits the kill as 2 of 4 toward The Four Freed gold trophy alongside Yuzan, Yuding, and Yucong — our trophy guide has the checklist.

The Tale’s End and the True-Ending Chain

Completing the tale awards The Last of Baishan trophy and closes the Baishan tragedy — and it matters beyond the story. Phantom Blade Zero DB flags it among the purple quests true-ending players must finish before set story points; the cutoffs are strict: accept the tale before Bai Chilian, and examine Bi Taotao’s body before this duel. Coordinate the timing with our true ending guide and missable side quests guide before the Mirage Estate point of no return.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Yubi optional? Yes — Game8 and Keengamer both list her as an optional Mandate Encampment boss, reachable only through the Training Grounds key and the Baishan tale line rather than the main path.

Can I fight Yubi before Wu Lengshuang? Effectively no. The tale structure runs Wu Lengshuang first, then the body examination, then Yubi’s arena; skipping ahead risks failing Secrets of the Baishan Sect outright.

What weapon does Yubi use against you? The same Stormswords she drops: wind-and-thunder dual blades, with electrical spins, aerial dives, and the red-glint flipping kick as her unblockable signature.

Does beating Yubi matter for the true ending? Indirectly: her tale is among the missable quests true-ending guides say to clear before the late-game point of no return, and the kill feeds both The Last of Baishan and The Four Freed trophies.

Sources: game8.co (three blue-glint combo enders, flipping kick and 15–20% Guard counter, kneeling-spin unblockable, patience strategy, Baishan Stormswords stats), rockpapershotgun.com (boss #37, Mandate Encampment), pbz.gg (level 20, Chapter 5 Hero or Heretic, 120,000 Remnant Dust, Training Grounds bell 59 m, puppet lore), allthings.how (139,000 Pathbreaker HP), keengamer.com (missable rules, rewards incl. Broken Vessel, The Four Freed 2 of 4, The Last of Baishan), gamespot.com (Training Grounds gate, Illusory Pipa Backplate, Memory Flowers), wuxiapunk.com (Bi Taotao identity cutscene, Broken Vessel effect), thegameswiki.com (body-examination step, post-fight direction), pcgamesn.com (electrical spins, aerial red attack), phantombladezerodb.com (true-ending purple quests), YouTube community Pathbreaker runs (November 2026) — launch-window guides, October–November 2026.