The Destined One had just reached the Cave Interior shrine, and the air inside Black Wind Mountain felt thick with trouble. Through the next door waited Black Wind King, a boss who looked less like royalty and more like a monk who had spent a decade lifting boulders. But the title was no joke. He was a Yaoguai King and the penultimate story boss of Chapter One in Black Myth: Wukong. For many players, this was the first real gut check. On paper, he seemed manageable—human-shaped, burly, armed with a long polearm. In practice, he turned out to be a supernatural nightmare with a bag of dirty tricks.
Before knocking on the cave door
At this point in the story, the player's kit was still fairly limited, but a few smart moves could tip the odds. The Pillar Stance needed to be unlocked. The player also had to head back to the Forest of Wolves to fight Guangzhi; beating him unlocked a temporary transformation spell—not to be confused with an equipped spirit transformation. Better yet, completing the three bells quest before this fight was a genuine game-changer. That quest involved defeating Guangzhi too, and it allowed the player to craft the Bronze armour set. The set boosted defence and fire resistance. Given what Black Wind King had planned, that fire resistance would be worth its weight in gold.
Conveniently, the Cave Interior shrine was right next to the boss door, so the runback was almost nonexistent. Small mercies.
The fight begins
The moment the king finished monologuing, he bolted forward with shocking speed. The Destined One had to dodge fast. The early seconds were the best chance to use Immobilize and pile on a few combos to build Focus Points. But the king wasn't just fast; he was sneaky.
One of the most annoying moves was when he vanished into a dark cloud form. Attacking that mist did nothing. Casting Immobilize did nothing. Worse, he could still charge and deal damage while drifting around. Perfect dodges were possible, but timing a dodge against a shapeless cloud was a proper headache. The cave arena didn't help either. Light only came in from the centre, so visibility was patchy at best.
After the dark cloud chase, Black Wind King would crash back down in his physical form at the centre of the arena. The tell was a huge swirl of mist and sparks before he dropped like a meteor. The resulting shockwave covered a wide area. The smart move was to hang back until the swirling stopped, then rush in.
Reading the big swings
Once grounded, the king used his polearm to deliver heavy, sweeping strikes that left trails of dark fog. These combos often ended with a jumping overhead slam. Then there was the charging thrust, with the polearm held out like a lance. The trick with the ground-level swings was the Pillar Stance. By standing atop the staff, the player could avoid the slash entirely and then come down with a countering heavy attack. It wasn't flashy, but it worked.
For those keeping score, here’s the lowdown:
| Attack | Tell | Best Response |
|---|---|---|
| Dark cloud rush | King dissolves into black mist | Perfect dodge or wait it out |
| Aerial slam | Swirl of mist and sparks in centre | Back away, avoid shockwave |
| Polearm combo | Heavy swings with dark fog trail | Pillar Stance then heavy counter |
| Charging thrust | Polearm held forward | Sidestep or roll to the side |
| Fire breath | Takes a swig from his gourd | Keep moving, roll twice if ignited |
When he plays with fire
The fire breath was a nasty surprise. Black Wind King would take a swig from his own gourd and then spew a long stream of flames. He would also twist his head around, so simply dodging once wasn't enough—keeping on the move was essential. If caught, the player needed to roll twice to put out the flames. Standing in Pillar Stance could avoid the fire, but coming down with a heavy counter at the wrong moment could still result in a crispy failure.
The disappearing act
As if the cloud form wasn't bad enough, the king had another vanish move. He would fade out of view entirely, then reappear out of nowhere to ambush. The only saving grace was that he didn't attack instantly. He would appear in a standing stance, winding up an attack, which gave the player a split second to perfect dodge or cast Immobilize if it was ready.
This move became more common when his health dropped below 25%. At that point, he would often reappear mid-combo, so staying vigilant was crucial. Windows for a full combo were rare. And trying to Immobilize him in the final stretch was practically throwing the spell away—he would laugh it off and dissolve back into his dark cloud.
The reward and the twist
After a hard-fought victory, the truth arrived with a twist. The player technically defeated Black Wind King, but he wasn't actually dead. Bruised and bitter, he accused the player of using cheap tricks—rich coming from him—then beat a retreat toward Black Wind Mountain's summit. Fortunately, this was a rare case of a two-phase boss split into two separate fights, with a shrine checkpoint between them. Time to catch a breather.
Even so, the first fight paid out nicely: 1049 XP, one Spark point, 699 Will, and one Stone Spirit material. The real prize, however, was the Cloud Step spell. That same cheap trick the king had been spamming was now the player's to use. Cloud Step let the player turn into mist, slip away invisible, and then ambush enemies with an Unveiled Strike. It was a proper taste of his own medicine.
With the cave behind and the summit ahead, the player tightened his grip on the staff. The king had escaped, but the real rematch was just beginning.