With a meticulously hand-drawn Metroidvania world like Hollow Knight and Sekiro-inspired mechanics, there are a lot of cool boss battles to be had in . In it, Yi 𒀰explores the vastness of New Kunlun to exact vengeance against its nine rulers, all the while taking down formidable foes to get to them and claim their Solꦛ Seal.

Kuafu is one of those rulꦬers, and to get to him, you'll have to overcome your first significant roadblock - General Yingzhao, who, in a way, is the tutorial bos🧸s. However, only those who have properly grasped Yi's deflects and Tai Chi Kicks are capable of beating Yingzhao.

Where To Find Yingzhao

Yingzhao is found inside the pyramid structure known as the Radiant Pagoda,൲ visible in the backdrop of the Power Reservoir (Central). To reach it, you need to:

1. Exit the Four Seasons Pavilion hub, then work your way down using the elevator in the Central Transport Hub on the right.
2. Once you reach the lower level, take the transporter on the right to reach the Power Reservoir (East).
3. From there, proceed left to find another transporter that will lead you to the Power Reservoir (Central).
4. Eventually, the Radiant Pagoda will come into view as you continue heading left.

There are useful shortcuts that you can unlock to bypass enemies in Power Reservoir (East). You can also defeat the optional mini-boss Central Centinel: Jiaoduan in this area to obtain the Pauper Jade and a Computing Unit.

To access Radiant Pagoda, you'll need to power up the Light Bridge that connects it with the Power Reservoir (Central). Fortunately, the backup control room lies just beneath the current platform you're standing on.

Start by heading a little left and jump down a ledge. The path on the left leads to a respawn node and the merchant Chiyou, while the door on the right grants access to the 💃control room.

Inside the room, you can hack the console with the prompted buttons to restore power to the Light Bridge. Exit the room 🌠and survive the gauntlet of enemies as you loop back to the Light Bridge by following the path to the right.

After that, you can activate the bridge to enter the Radiant Pagoda, where General Yingzhao awaits you to the far right of the area. Just before the boss encounter, be sure to activate the nearby Root Node.

Yingzhao Boss Preparations

As a tutorial boss, General Yingzhao isn't particularly hard to defeat. Even more so, you won't have much to experiment with at this stage, so there isn't much that can be said in the way of preparation. However, there are a few Jades and upgrades that you should grab before engaging him in battle.

Medicine Pipe Upgrade

The first thing you'll want to do is to save 1,000 Jins to acquire an extra charge for your Medicine Pipe from the 3D Printer back in the Pavilion.ཧ This will provide the extra headroom needed to last longer against Yingzhao.

Recommended Skills

By now, you'll have acquired some skill points. If not many, at least two skill points will get you by. Allocate these into your first Qi Boost upgrade to increase your Qi Blast charge and the Shadow Strike skill to deal enhanced damage while attacking Y🦄ingzhao's back with your slashes and Qi Blasts.

Recommended Jades

There aren't many impressive Jades you can acquire so early in the game. However, the Recovery Jade and Quick Dose Jade do prove invaluable in this encounter. Both have a high focus on survival and can be purchased from Chiyou for 1,000 Jins and 1,250 Jins, respectively.

• The Recovery Jade improves the recovery rate of internal damage (the red part in your health bar) caused by imperfect parries.
• The Quick Dose Jade is useful for avoiding interruptions while healing with Yi's Medicine Pipe.

Equipping these two Jades requires two slots each. Two are present by default, but you can increase them with Computing Units, one of which is sold by Chiyou for 1,000 Jins.

Yingzhao Attack Patterns

The Yingzhao boss fight is split bet🐲ween two phases. Here's an overview of all the moves he uses in each phase.

How To Beat General Yingzhao

Phase One

At the start of the first phase, you must capitalize on the opportunity to land a few hits before Yingzhao initiates his attacks. This phase is highly predictive as there isn't much attack variation, but Yingzhao still packs a punch, and it only takes two or three hits to kill꧋ you.

The ideal approach here is to parry all his incoming attacks and follow up with Qi Blasts at the end of each combo to 🦩chip away at his health.

There's also a window of opportunity where you can deal some damage with your slash attacks before he swings out his spear in each combo sequence, especially while executing his two🐽-hit combo as shown in the video.

Sometimes, Yingzhao likes to do the two-hit combo twice or thrice in a row. By far the easiest move to counter, this is also where you are able to land a lot of hits against him.

When facing his running sweeps, the best course of action is to run toward him, parrying both sweeps while sneaking in a hit each time. The follow-up stab attack can be a bit tricky to anticipate, but there's always a two-second windup before he strikes.

After successfully parrying the stab attack twice, Yingzhao enters a staggered state. This presents a🐟n excellent cha🗹nce for you to unleash an onslaught of attacks capped off with a Talisman Explosion.

Phase Two

Things do start to get exciting in phase two, which starts after depleting Yingzhao's health bar. On top of having the same regular attacks from phase one, Yingzhao can now perform two more Crimson Attacks. The same strategy applies here, but with a little maneuverability added to the equ💙ation.

While charging up the crimson thrust attack, Yingzhao glows green in the process. To counter it, you must execute a Tai Chi Kick. Doing so stuns him, and in return, you'll also inflict internal damage against him which can then be converted to direct damage with a Talisman Blast.

As for the slam attack, he always follows it after the stab attack. Your only means of avoiding it is with a dash, but don't dash too early as Yingzhao follows you throuꦚgh midair before he impacts on th♔e ground.

General Yingzhao Rewards

By following the strategy, you'll defeat General Yingzhao in no time. As a reward, you earn your first Herb Crystal, which is used to improve the healing efficacy of Yi's pipe. To the right of the boss arena, you'll also find Kuafu, and he'll surrender his Sol Seal.