You spent dozens of hours getting thrashed by bosses in Black Myth: Wukong. You finally climbed to the peak of Mount Huaguo, beat the Stone Monkey, and took down the Great Sage’s Broken Shell. Then the credits roll. You get a cinematic, maybe you feel a bit of "wait, is that it?" and the game kicks you back to the menu. Honestly, if you just stopped there, you missed the real point of the whole story.
The standard ending is basically a cycle. It's a tragedy. You take the crown, you sit on the chair, and you become the next Great Sage, trapped just like the one before you. But there’s a Black Myth Wukong secret ending—the "True Ending"—that changes everything. It changes the final cutscene, adds a massive hidden boss fight that is arguably the best in the game, and gives the Destined One a way to actually break the cycle of reincarnation.
Getting it isn't just about finding a hidden door. It’s about completing specific questlines across the chapters that most people breeze past because they’re too busy trying not to get flattened by a giant beetle or a tiger in a blood pool.
The Loong Scales and the Secret Areas
To even sniff the secret ending, you have to be thorough. Like, "annoyingly thorough" thorough. You need to unlock the secret areas in almost every chapter. These aren't just bonus zones for loot; they are narratively tied to the final encounter.
In Chapter 1, you have to ring the three bells to reach the Ancient Guanyin Temple and beat Elder Jinchi. Chapter 2 requires the "Sobering Stone" to help the Drunken Pig, which leads you to the Sahali Kingdom. By Chapter 3, you're looking for the Treasure Hunter questline to unlock the Great Pagoda. This is the big one. The Great Pagoda is where the "real" final act happens, but it stays empty and useless if you haven't done the legwork.
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I've seen players get frustrated because they think they can just rush the main path. You can’t. If you don't have the Vessel from the Chapter 4 secret area (Purple Cloud Mountain) or the fire-proof mantle from Chapter 1, you're not just making the game harder—you're locking yourself out of the lore required to trigger the Erlang Shen encounter.
Erlang Shen: The Gatekeeper of the Black Myth Wukong Secret Ending
Once you have completed the secret areas in Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5, and finished the Treasure Hunter quest in Chapter 3, you need to head back to the Great Pagoda. If you’ve done everything right, the Maitreya (that little fat monk guy who’s been popping up) will be waiting there. He’ll open a mural that transports you to Mei-Jian Peak.
This is where you fight Erlang Shen.
He is, without a doubt, the most complex fight in the game. He has a shield bar that regenerates. He uses a spear, a sword, an axe, and a freaking laser beam from his third eye. He turns into a bird. He turns into a lion. It’s exhausting. But you have to beat him.
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Why? Because Erlang is holding the "Sixth Relic." In the standard ending, you only collect five. That sixth relic represents the "Mind" or the "Will" of Sun Wukong. Without it, the Destined One is just a physical vessel without the soul of the original Great Sage. When you beat Erlang, you don't just get a cool weapon (the Tri-Point Double-Edged Spear, which is incredible, by the way); you get the memories.
Why the Animation Changes Everything
After you beat Erlang and his Four Heavenly Kings (which turns into a literal Kaiju battle, mind you), you still have to go back and beat the final boss in Chapter 6 again. Yes, even if you already beat the Great Sage’s Broken Shell, you have to do it one more time to trigger the Black Myth Wukong secret ending.
The difference is staggering.
Instead of the depressing scene where the Old Monkey puts the golden headband on your head—effectively enslaving you to the heavens—the screen goes black. You get a hand-drawn, high-budget 2D animation sequence that recaps the life of Sun Wukong. But it's not the sanitized version. It shows his rebellion, his love, his betrayal, and the moment he realized that the only way to truly be free was to die and pass his will to someone who wouldn't wear the crown.
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The final shot of the secret ending shows the Destined One opening his eyes, and the headband? It’s gone. It’s withered away. You aren't a puppet of the celestial court anymore. You are actually free.
Actionable Steps to Secure the True Ending
If you’re currently mid-playthrough and don't want to mess this up, follow this checklist. It’s easy to break these quests if you progress too far into the final boss fights of each chapter.
- Chapter 1: Ring all three hanging bells. This takes you to the secret boss Elder Jinchi. Beat him and get the Fireproof Mantle.
- Chapter 2: Find the man-shielded boar near the Rockrest Flat. Give him the Sobering Stone (bought from the Man-in-Stone). Follow his quest to the Sahali Kingdom and beat Fuban.
- Chapter 3: Complete the Treasure Hunter questline. This involves finding the NPC near the North Shore of Bitter Lake, warming him up with the Ring of Fire spell, and meeting him again in the Melon Field.
- Chapter 4: Find the Venom Daoist. Beat him twice—once in the Webbed Hollow and once in the Court of Illumination. This opens the gate to Purple Cloud Mountain. Beat the Duskveil there.
- Chapter 5: Find the Pale-Axe Stalwart near the beginning of the area. Help him find the five element carts. This leads to the Bishui Cave. Beat the Bishui Golden-Eyed Beast.
- The Final Step: Before you finish Chapter 6, go to the Great Pagoda in Chapter 3 (Snow-Veiled Path). Enter the mural, defeat Erlang, then go finish the game.
Doing this doesn't just give you a trophy. It gives you the "Great Sage" stance in New Game Plus, which lets you use the actual moveset of Sun Wukong himself. It’s the ultimate reward for the ultimate challenge. Don't settle for the "bad" ending; the Destined One deserves better than those golden chains.