You just reached the New Thunderclap Temple. Your hands are probably sweating because the Pagoda Realm was a nightmare of health-draining screams and narrow ledges. But here’s the thing: Chapter 3 is huge. It’s easily the most sprawling part of the game. Most people just rush to the Yellowbrow fight and think they’ve seen it all. They haven’t.
If you aren’t looking for the Black Myth Chapter 3 secrets hidden behind frozen waterfalls or locked behind specific quest triggers, you’re basically leaving half the game on the table. We’re talking about massive bosses that give you the best spells in the game and weird NPC quests that explain why everything in this snowy hellscape is so miserable.
It’s easy to get lost. The map design in the Snowhill region is intentionally confusing. It wants you to feel like a pilgrim lost in the mountains. Honestly, it’s kinda brilliant, but also incredibly frustrating when you realize you missed a permanent stat boost because you didn't talk to a horse-headed man for the fourth time.
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The Pagoda Realm is Worse Than You Think
Everyone hates the Pagoda Realm. It’s dark, the music makes your skin crawl, and that rhythmic health-drain effect is just mean. But if you're looking for the real Black Myth Chapter 3 secrets, this is where the treasure is buried.
Have you noticed the purple seals on the cell doors? You can’t open them at first. You have to find the Captain Lotus-Vision boss—he’s the one standing on top of a giant pile of corpses in a side area. Once he’s dead, those seals vanish. Inside one of those cells is the Third Prince. He’s not a boss you fight; he’s a guy you help.
The quest involves finding four distinct "Captain" spirits. You’ve got Lotus-Vision, Void-Illusion, Kalpa-Wave, and the one whose spirit is just chilling near the Longevity Road shrine. If you bring all four spirits back to the prisoner in the Pagoda, you get the Chu-Bai Spear material. It’s one of the best mid-game weapons because of its reach. Most players miss the fourth Captain because he’s literally just a soul on a corpse near a giant bird-statue path. You’d walk right past him if you weren't looking.
That One Hidden Boss Behind the Waterfall
Look, the game doesn't tell you this, but there is a Loong in every chapter. In Chapter 3, it’s the Cyan Loong.
To find him, you need the Loong Scales from Chapter 2. If you didn’t get those by tricking the First Prince into smashing the wall in the Sandgate Village, go back and do it now. Once you have the scales, head to the Turtle Island. See that giant frozen dragon statue sitting on the edge of the cliff? It’s not a statue.
Stand near it with the scales in your inventory. The cinematic kicks in, and suddenly you’re fighting a lightning-wreathed dragon over the ocean. This fight is tough. Like, really tough. He has a sweeping tail attack that can one-shot you if your shock resistance is low. But beating him is the only way to eventually craft the Golden Loong Staff later.
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Near the North Shore of the Bitter Lake, you’ll find a guy sitting by a fire. He looks like just another NPC, but he’s the key to the Spellbinder spell. Spellbinder is a game-changer. It locks out your ability to use spirits and vessels but massively boosts your raw attack power. It’s the "pro player" spell for people who just want to bonk bosses with a staff.
To get it, you have to follow this guy. You find him again near the Towers of Karma, shivering. Use the Ring of Fire spell—the one the Old Man gave you earlier—to warm him up. If you don't have that spell equipped, he'll just sit there. Eventually, this leads to a boss fight against a "Green-Robed Martialist."
It's a weird fight. He jumps around like a frog and uses a lot of elemental attacks. But once he’s down, you get the spell. This is one of those Black Myth Chapter 3 secrets that feels like a classic RPG quest from the 90s. No quest markers. No objective list. Just "Hey, I'm cold, help me."
The Man in the Wall and the Medicine
There’s a guy stuck in a wall. Again. You remember the man-in-stone from Chapter 2? In Chapter 3, you find Xu Dog again, but this time he’s near the cellar entrance of the temple.
Actually, before you even get to the temple, you should be looking for the Chen Lo boss on the North Shore. He’s an old man standing in the water. Beat him, and he asks for medicine. You go back to Xu Dog, get the pills, and give them to Chen Lo.
This unlocks the Zodiac Village. It’s a literal hub world. You can grow plants here, upgrade your armor at the Yin Tiger (who is also a secret boss you can challenge), and get permanent stat buffs. If you finish Chapter 3 without unlocking the Zodiac Village, you’re playing the game on "Accidental Hard Mode." The Yin Tiger upgrade system is the only way to keep your early-game armor sets viable as you move into the late-game.
The Mystery of the Bat and the Fox
The snow hides a lot of tragedy. There’s a fox scarf you find early on. It’s not just flavor text. If you use the brush item given to you by the fox spirit near the entrance of the Forest of Felicity, you transform into a fox.
While you’re a fox, you can run past enemies, but the real secret is taking that form to the New Thunderclap Temple. There’s a specific monk there—he’s in one of the side halls. If you approach him while transformed, a secret boss fight triggers. It’s a heavy lore moment that explains the fall of the temple and why the "fake" Buddha took over.
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Then there’s the Bat. The Apramana Bat.
This boss only shows up if you have Zhu Bajie (the pig) with you. If you go to the North Shore of Bitter Lake and explore the giant skeleton on the beach, the Bat will swoop down. If you kill the final boss of the chapter before doing this, the Bat disappears. You lose the chance to get his spirit. It’s one of the few "missable" pieces of content in the game, which is why everyone is so obsessed with it.
The Great Pagoda and the Secret Ending
This is the big one. In the middle of the snowy path, there’s a giant building called the Great Pagoda. If you walk in, it’s empty. Just a bunch of empty murals.
This is the staging ground for the game’s "True" ending. To fill these murals, you have to complete the secret areas in every single chapter. Chapter 1’s Ancient Guanyin Temple, Chapter 2’s Sahali Kingdom, and the secret area in Chapter 3 (which is technically the melon patch quest we talked about earlier).
Once you finish all these side quests throughout the game, this room becomes the gateway to the Erlang Shen fight. He’s arguably the hardest boss in the game, harder than the final boss. But you can't even see him if you don't pay attention to the Black Myth Chapter 3 secrets involving the murals and the various Captain spirits.
Practical Advice for Navigating the Snow
Don't just look at the ground. Look up.
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A lot of the best items, like the Luojia Fragrant Vines used to upgrade your gourd, are tucked away on cliffsides that look inaccessible. In the Pagoda Realm especially, there are wooden beams you can walk on that lead to chests containing high-level crafting materials like Fine Gold Thread.
If you're struggling with the difficulty spike here, focus on your resistance. The bosses in this chapter love Frost and Shock. If you haven't been crafting medicines or choosing armor with elemental resistance, Chapter 3 will punish you.
- Go back to the Turtle: After the Turtle moves, you can actually go back to the area where his head was to find discarded items.
- Talk to the Horse: The Horse NPC (Ma Tianba) is in the Pagoda Realm. If you don't talk to him until he repeats his dialogue, his quest won't progress to Chapter 4.
- Check the Statues: In the New Thunderclap Temple, many of the statues are actually enemies. If they look too detailed, they probably want to kill you.
The real beauty of this game isn't the combat—it's the layers. You think you've cleared a room, but there’s a crack in the wall. You think a boss is dead, but he has a brother waiting in a lake. Take your time. The snow isn't going anywhere.
To make sure you've actually found everything, head to your Inventory and check your Spirits. If you're missing the "Non-Able" spirit (found near the Verdant Path), go back. He’s a fast, humanoid boss who gives you a spirit that increases your crit rate but lowers your total mana. It's a niche trade-off, but for certain builds, it’s the missing piece of the puzzle. Explore the side paths near the "Towers of Karma" shrine specifically; that area is a literal maze of rewards for the curious. Check your journal frequently. If there are silhouettes in your character list, you've missed a secret.
Your Next Moves in the Snow
- Visit the Zodiac Village: If you haven't fought Chen Lo on the North Shore, do it now. Unlocking the blacksmith and the garden is the single biggest upgrade you can get in Chapter 3.
- Farm the Monks: The monks in the New Thunderclap Temple drop a significant amount of Will and XP. If you're underleveled for the Yellowbrow fight, spend thirty minutes running loops through the temple courtyards.
- Find the Four Captains: Check your inventory for "Captain Spirits." If you don't have four, go back to the Pagoda Realm and the Longevity Road. The spear you get from the prisoner is a massive power spike for the upcoming boss fights.