Imperial China walkthrough & Disciple Training tips | Live a Live guide
A trip to Imperial China in the chapter of Live A Live nicknamed 'The Successor' will put you into the shoes of grand kung fu master The Earthen Heart Shifu, who is nearing the end of his life and so is searching for a student to succeed him - thus the episode's unofficial title. Which of Shifu's three students will you choose to succeed him?
Live A Live's Imperial China scenario itself is quite straightforward compared to some of the other story chapters - a medium-length story with quite standard RPG elements, and an ideal first chapter to play. Your time in this story is split between exploration and training segments - and during exploration, you can discover hidden items throughout the map that will greatly aid you in battle. Below is our Imperial China walkthrough guide, which will help you find every item and choose a successor. You can find guides for every other chapter on the contents hub.
An old Chinese master nearing the end of his life yearns to preserve his kung fu for future generations. With this purpose does he venture forth from his home atop Mount Aspiration in search of a worthy successor to his legacy. Once he gathered three disciples, he will subject them to relentless training to strengthen the body, enhance the reflexes, and unlock true potential. Of these three, who will rise to the occasion and become the next Shifu?
Live A Live Imperial China walkthrough: Beginnings at Shifu's Cottage and Mount Aspiration
You'll begin the Imperial China chapter and eventually gain control of Shifu inside his cottage. Here, you can find some hidden items that are placed in map. In the modern remake of Live A Live, you will see a yellow sparkle near item placements to hint that there's something to be grabbed there. Pick up the items in the current room. Then check the room behind for more items.
First Room:
- Weathered Boots
- Qilin Boots.
- Weathered Garments x2
- Red Bean Bun
- Pork Bun x2
After acquiring the items, leave the cottage to head towards Mount Aspiration. On the way, examine the grass next to your house to find some White Clover.
Then move to the very west end of the trail to find the Birdeye Speedwell in the grass. Then head south, you will find the trails lead to three different paths, as shown:
Each path will lead the Shifu to a prospect protégé - and you can visit them in any order you like. For this guide, we will start with the left/west path to the Bamboo Forest first.
Bamboo Forest
Like every area in this scenario, the Bamboo forest is full of treasure and various items that you can find if you explore thoroughly. Luckily for you, we've got a list:
Treasure List
- Nature’s Providence (Grass near the entrance)
- Nature’s Providence (To the west side, near the middle.)
- White Clover (To the west side, near the middle.)
- Nature’s Providence (West side, where the trail split to three ways)
- Birdeye Speedwell (West side, where the trail split to three ways)
- Nature’s Providence (Northeast side, where the trail split to three ways)
- Nature’s Providence (North side, where the trail split to three ways)
- Shepherd’s Purse (North side, where the trail split to three ways)
Move to the end of the forest, you will encounter a bandit. During the choice prompt, select the second option (I’m afraid I have nothing for you.) to engage in combat.
Boss: Lei Kugo
After defeating Lei, she will join your party. Now you can explore the rest of the forest to find some items. But if you want to move on with the story, just leave the forest and look for the other disciples; the choice is yours, but more items can make your life easier later on, and return further rewards.
Once you're ready, return to Mount Aspiration. You can take either of the two remaining paths, but in this guide we're taking the south-west path to Wong Village.
Wong Village
There isn’t any hidden items in the village, however helping the villagers you see here will return a gift for your kind-hearted actions. Helping out requires items, all of which can be found by exploring the other areas in this scenario. There is a story event by treating the elderly person in the middle.
- Elderly Woman to the left – Requires: Nature’s Providence Receive: Iron Wok
- Old Man to the right – Requires: Nature’s Providence Receive: Red Bean Bun
- Elderly Woman to the bottom left – Requires: Nature’s Providence Receive: Catfish Whisker
- Old Man to the bottom right – Requires: Nature’s Providence Receive: Red Bean Bun
- Elderly Woman to the very bottom Requires: Red Bean Bun Receive: Nothing
When you’re ready to engage in combat, give a Nature's Providence to the old woman in orange on the left center to see a scene with a pickpocket. Then, run to the south exit and pick the second choice “Pardon me”.
Boss: Sun Tzu Wang, Hot-Headed Lackey x2
After the conclusion, take the second choice “I am afraid I must decline…” Then the first choice “Well, if you insist” to recruit the young man as your disciple.
With this done, head to the last destination by returning to Mount Aspiration. If you've been following this guide, there's only one location left - so head east to find Yunfa Market.
Yunfa Market
As with the Wong Village, there aren't any hidden items around the village, and initially there's no way to get anything from the townsfolk, either. Instead, head north for an event scene.
Once you're able to, talk to the dash and dine escapee. You are given two options. By not fighting the boy, you will have to pay for his theft. You can also fight him. Regardless of what happens, he'll join you - so the choice is yours. If you engage in combat...
Boss: Hong Hakka
Instead of returning to the cottage immediately after this event and/or fight, take some time out to talk to the townsfolk. They're grateful to you for helping out, and as a result some of them will give you items:
- Red Bean Bun (Old Man near the entrance)
- Porcelain Bowl (Old Man to the northeast)
- Pork Bun (Elderly Woman to the northwest)
With this area completely cleaned out, head on back to the Cottage - it's time to train.
Training Session & Which Disciple to Focus On
The next piece of the Imperial China chapter of Live A Live is the training session. During this segment, you will get to focus on building the stats of the three disciples you have recruited. The catch is that only the strongest disciple will remain further in the story. For that reason, you should only focus on just one of the disciples instead of training them evenly.
Which disciple should you choose to focus on? The three disciples all have pros and cons - here they are:
- Lei Kugo is the fastest disciple of the three. If you prefer to focus on using quick attacks that will let you escape and attack from afar, she's best for you. Having higher mobility stat should lead to higher evasion rates. Lei also gets the strongest AOE skill at level 16. She's also the only female main protagonist character in all of Live A Live, for what it's worth.
- Yun has the lowest stats of the three, however he is likely to be the strongest due to his higher-than-average growth rates. Yun also get the strongest single target attack skill at Level 16. Yun mainly meant to be an all-rounder, a jack-of-all-trades but master of none.
- Hong is the one of the disciples with the highest HP pool, making him the tank unit out of the three. Not exactly the strongest, but he can be useful up close and far.
As mentioned above, for what it's worth Lei Kugo is your one shot at a female lead character - every other main character in Live A Live is male (yes, even the robot) - if that matters to you, the decision is much plainer.
After the initial bout with each of the pupils an event scene will occur. During this segment you will get to engage in 4 battles each day with your disciples. Each segment will raise their stats. An important thing to note is that your pupils will only learn Shifu's abilities if they are performed on them - meaning the pupils learn these moves similar to Masaru in the Present Day chapter. Once it's been performed on them, the ability is learned after leveling up.
This stuff gets fiddly, so it is highly suggested that you keep a save file for this part incase you want to redo the training segment.
After training 12 different bouts, an event scene will occur. You will need to return to Yunfa Market. Head north and defeat Sun Tzu Wang again. After defeating them, talk the girls that were held hostage earlier. Along with all the villagers, They will shower you with gifts.
- Peach Bun
- Panda Charm
- Chow Chow Charm
- Soup Dumpling
- Pork Bun x2
- Scroll of Martial Arts
- Pot Lid
- Beijing Pot
- Bottle of Tieguanyin
- Red Bean Bun
- Tiger Glove
- Tiger Attire
Return to the cottage you will find your strongest disciple near the cottage or inside the house. Return to cottage and check on the remaining disciple.
After this event, leave and head north to Mount Aspiration. Examine the two graves. Afterwards, head west to the Bamboo Forest. Reach the checkpoint to meet up with the remaining disciple. Then head to the north exit to the Indomitable Fist dojo.
Indomitable Fist Fortress
As you head to the Indomitable Fist Fortress, it's time for the Imperial China chapter to take a turn into some real fighting. Plus, there's lots more loot to be found - of course.
Start the dojo by defeating the goons on the entrance. From here on, you can encounter enemies on the field map. The dungeon is straightforward, just head follow the path until it reaches the end. There are also some treasures along the way that you can find, which we're going to picture and list here, room-by-room...
- Red Bean Bun
- Fuxi Feather
- Weathered Boots
- Peach Bun Jar
- Qilin Boots
- Peach Bun
- Peach Bun
- Soup Dumplings
- Bottle Gourd
- Pork Bun
When you reach the last room, you must defeat a bunch of opponents in sequence to face the true mastermind. It's boss rush time - but we've got the strategies to get you through!
Boss Fight 1:San Xi, Su Xi
Boss Fight 2: Yi Xi, Er Xi
Boss Fight 3: Tong Cha, Sha Cha
Boss Fight 4: Pei Cha, Nan Cha
As mentioned before, these guys hit pretty hard, so you should get rid of one of them soon as possible. If your HP falls low, you can use the red bean bun to restore your health.
Boss Fight 5: Lin, Xian, Chan
Boss Fight 6: Yi Pei Kou
Boss Fight 7: Ou Di Wan Lee
The boss isn't immune to debuffs, so any attack that might ail the boss will work here. The boss here also can cause poison - but his bark is honestly worse than his bite on the whole.
After defeating the last boss, the ending of this scenario will play. The disciple you trained will be the playable character for the final scenario. If you are displeased with the final results, you can replay this segment and redo the training session, or load up the save we told you to make before the training session began, to have a different pupil be your playable character for the final scenario.
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