Peng Meng The Axemaster is one menacing-looking dude. This mask-wearing maniac is the first boss fight players might struggle with a little bit. When Soul first encounters Peng Meng in Weeping Creek Valley, both his hands are chained to four pillars and his Dread Axe is lodged into the ground. Honestly, since The Axemaster kind of functions as a tutorial boss, you can use this opportunity to learn how parries work in the game.
Peng Meng has a good range of attack moves; the most important ones are his black aura attacks, which are unblockable and his regular combo attacks, which can be parried. Since you’ve got Jagged Steel at this point in the game, I recommend using it as your main attack weapon to inflict its bleed effect, and only switch when you’re low on Sha-Chi. Let’s go through the exact details of how to deal with Peng Meng.
Axe your way through:
Where to Find The Axemaster: Peng Meng Location
Finding Peng Meng shouldn’t be that hard for you, since it’s part of the main story, which takes you through Weeping Creek Valley, the game’s first region. After we’ve defeated the Frenzied Brute and obtaining Jagged Steel, we’ll continue from Rustblade Pavilion toward the Outpost Courtyard. Then progress through the Outpost area, where we meet Forge and find the Outpost Bell.
Peng Meng is the mandatory boss on this section of the main route. You don’t need to complete an optional quest or find a special item to trigger the encounter. The nearest checkpoint before the fight is the Outpost Bell. After defeating Peng Meng, you’ll also find a Bell called The Axemaster’s Fall in the arena.
How to Beat Peng Meng
Peng Meng is a big boy. His biggest advantage is his size and reach. His oversized axe can really hurt if you’re the type to attack too aggressively or try to clumsily retreat after committing to a long combo.
The safest approach is to learn on his attack patterns, preserve your Sha-Chi, and take advantage of the openings created by successful parries and dodges. Your main strategy here should be parrying. Parrying takes away Peng Meng’s Sha-Chi, and each time it is fully drained, he falls down on one knee and becomes fully vulnerable to Soul’s attacks. Just be careful not to overstay your welcome, as The Axemaster gets up and immediately lets out a stunning shout. Also, make sure you don’t miss the execution finisher QTE at the end.
Dodge the Black-Smoke Attacks
This is Peng Meng’s most dangerous attack. During this type of attack, your whole screen goes black and white. It consists of his stomps, overhead chops, and backwards body slam attacks. When he’s performing this attack, you’ll see a black aura around him. This is an indicator that his attack can’t be blocked or parried, so your only option is to dodge. If he hits you with this attack while you’re blocking, a large amount of your Sha-Chi gets drained. Don’t worry if it happens though; you can quickly switch weapons to refill your Sha-Chi. After dodging his black-aura attack, get back into aggressive attacks against him.
Parry Axe Attacks and Break His Guard
Since Peng Meng’s axe has such great range, your best strategy against his regular attack is parrying. Use properly timed parries against attacks that can be deflected. Perfect parries damage The Axemaster’s Sha-Chi and leads to him falling down.
Red and Blue Attacks
If you see a flash of red, dodge. If you see a flash of blue, parry. Red flash attacks are rarer, but more dangerous. This red attack is his heavy unblockable lunges. The other attack (blue attack) is far more common, and you can use it against The Axemaster by parrying these attacks. You should 100% do this to drain all his Sha-Chi so he goes down and then you can simply rain down your most hurtful attacks on him.
Use Jagged Steel for Bleed Damage
Jagged Steel is an excellent weapon to main against Peng Meng. You’ll obtain this sword by defeating the Frenzied Brute earlier in Weeping Creek Valley, so it’s fortunately available before reaching the Axemaster.
Jagged Steel builds up the Bleeding effect with its attacks. Once enough Bleed accumulates, it triggers Blood Loss, dealing additional damage to the target. The weapon’s bleeding effect works against Peng Meng, making it useful when you’re struggling to reduce his health through ordinary attacks alone. Try landing short combinations between his swings, then return to defense before he attacks again. The goal is to build Bleed without taking unnecessary hits.
Avoid His Yelling Range
Whenever Peng Meng feels overwhelmed, he starts bellowing out a barbaric yawp. This usually occurs when you’ve drained all his Sha-Chi and have attacked him when he was down. To push you away and stun you, he lets out a loud yell. To avoid getting stunned, get out of his range quickly, before he gets up and does the move. Sometimes, he yells even without going down, and if you’re not careful, it’ll catch Soul off guard.
Execution Finisher
The last attack Peng Meng will be doing is a wide Axe cleave. At this point, a QTE appears on the screen. Make sure you don’t miss it. Press it on time and Soul climbs on top of Peng Meng’s shoulders. Now stab The Axemaster in the neck and finish him off. He’ll slowly fall down on his knees and eventually drop down to the ground.
Peng Meng Rewards and Dread Axe
Level 1 Dread Axe:
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Damage | 309 |
| Guard Break | 208 |
| Weapon type | Destructive Phantom Edge |
| Special exploration ability | Iron Chain Breaker |
After defeating Peng Meng, you’ll get his iconic Dread Axe, a heavy secondary weapon that counts as a Destructive Phantom Edge. This thing is quite useful, both in combat and exploration.
In combat, Soul uses the Dread Axe for powerful charged attacks and breaking enemy defenses. Holding the Phantom Edge attack button charges its strike through two stages before releasing a heavy cleave. The normal charged attack consumes a Remnant Spark, while upgrading the weapon to Level 5 unlocks Full-Power Charge. This is an ability that can help Soul immediately perform a fully charged strike at the cost of an additional Remnant Spark.
In exploration, the Iron Chain Breaker ability allows Soul to break certain iron chains that prevent access to pathways and other areas. but you don’t need to have the Dread Axe equipped in a Phantom Edge slot to use this exploration ability. Before leaving the Outpost behind, revisit any nearby iron chains that previously blocked your path. The Dread Axe can now open these routes, giving you access to additional areas and collectibles.
Peng Meng and the Four Fierce Axes Quest
Peng Meng is connected to Four Fierce Axes. It’s actually very on theme for a boss called the Axemaster. This is a quest that involves an investigation into a conspiracy surrounding the Four Axes Rebellion. The quest begins earlier in Weeping Creek Valley, when you collect an initial case file near the Broken Puppet Valley Bell. Defeating Peng Meng advances the investigation and provides additional evidence.
The quest doesn’t end with his death, however. You’ll need to collect all Four Axes case files and progress through the story to reach the later stages. Eventually, you’ll deliver the collected evidence to the Child of Insight in Pangzhen. Completing this part of the investigation rewards the Blood Oath Dagger, which is used to Soul Temper the Dread Axe through Myst.
Phantom Blade Zero
