Zodiac Village is hidden within the Ruyi Scroll which you get by completing Chen Loong's quest in Chapter 3. This place acts as a hub for all of your important NPCs including Shen Monkey, Xu Dog, the Yin Tiger, and Chen Loong himself. Each of them has their own role within the village.
How to Enter Zodiac Village
To enter Zodiac Village, you need to complete Chen Loong's quest. This begins by confronting the Loong himself. He's found on the North Shore of Bitter Lake. From the shrine, head left following the shoreline.
- When you find him, Chen Loong attacks you.
- He does considerable damage and uses a lot of Shock-based attacks but doesn't have much health.
- If Zhu Bajie is still with you, he helps in the fight as well.
- Spend your Mana liberally to burst Chen Loong down.
- After you beat him he claims he's dying and you need to save him to continue the quest.
- To get the Medicine for Chen Loong, head to Xu Dog's location in the Crouching Tiger Temple Cellar.
- Talk to him until you receive the Medicine, then return to Chen Loong.
- After he recovers, he takes out the Ruyi Scroll and gives you access to Zodiac Village.
From here, Zodiac Village acts as a hub for all your major NPCs, in addition, you gain a couple of neat services. First up, the Yin Tiger can upgrade your armor. This is especially nice if there's an armor set you really like but get early in the game like the Pilgrim's Set. Normally this set has low defense but if you upgrade the rarity the armor's defenses improve as well. Then additionally, Chen Loong collects Seeds to grow more materials. Unfortunately collecting these seeds is a time-consuming task but they do carry over between cycles.
Shen Monkey
You first encounter Shen Monkey in Chapter 1 while exploring the Bamboo Forest. He's right near where you fight the Whiteclad Noble. After you save him from a Snake Guai he becomes a vendor, you can buy various Gourds, Drinks, and Soaks from him. As you progress your Journey new things become available for purchase, so be sure to stop by his shop regularly. After you unlock Zodiac Village he happily moves there as this area has a 100% lower Snake Guai population than the Bamboo Forest.
This is where you use your Awaken Wine Worms to upgrade Drinks and Luojia Fragrant Vine Fragments to upgrade Gourds. As you upgrade your Gourds they gain additional charges. On the other hand, upgrading a Drink increases its potency, and certain upgrade thresholds add more Soak slots. If you want to upgrade everything you need to play through twice to get enough Awaken Wine Worms to max out all the Drinks!
Check our guide to learn more about the Gourds, Drinks and Soaks that are available.
Xu Dog
You first encounter Xu Dog near Sandgate Village, he's seeking a recipe. You get the recipe by defeating the nearby Frog Yaoguai, Lang-Li-Guhh-Baw. After that, he's happy to craft both Mortal and Celestial Medicines for you. Mortal Medicines provide a temporary effect, and most of them focus on boosting the Destined One during combat. Celestial Medicines, on the other hand, provide a permanent stat increase. After helping Xu Dog you can craft Mortal Medicines at any time from the Shrine. But to craft Celestial Medicines you need to return to him either in the Crouching Tiger Temple Cellar or Zodiac Village. He also provides you with free Medicines from time to time.
Celestial Medicines require Mind Cores. You can purchase a good number of these from the Shrine Shop throughout the various Chapters (each Chapter and Secret Area has a different shop.) But in addition, powerful Yaoguai drop them. You can use the Remake Celestial Medicines option to refund all the Mind Cores you've spent and re-craft your Celestial Medicines. However, there's a cap to how much of each stat the Celestial Medicines can provide, so as you continue through to New Game+ and beyond, eventually you just cap out all of the stats!
Check our guide to learn more about the Medicines in Black Myth Wukong.
Yin Tiger
The Yin Tiger is found exclusively in Zodiac Village which means you can't access his item upgrade services until you complete Chen Loong's quest. Like your Shrine he can craft both weapons and armor. However, he has an additional option, upgrade. This increases the item's rarity, so if you have an Uncommon item set you really like, you can upgrade it all the way to Mythic. The materials required to upgrade an item are the same as crafting an item of the same rarity. In New Game+ you can access the armor upgrade menu from your Shrine.
| Upgrade Level | Required Materials |
|---|---|
| Uncommon to Rare | Silk |
| Rare to Epic | Silk, Cold Iron Leaves |
| Epic to Legendary | Cold Iron Leaves, Fine Gold Thread |
| Legendary to Mythic | Fine Gold Thread, Celestial Ribbon |
Challenging the Yin Tiger
You can also challenge the Yin Tiger to a friendly duel. He is a dangerous combatant who fades away before appearing to strike with his massive greatsword. If you manage to beat him, you get an additional Curio slot (once per run, maxing at 5), and you can take his form with the Ebon Flow Transformation.
Chen Loong
Last up, Chen Loong joins you in Zodiac Village as well. You can bring him Seeds which randomly drop when you harvest plants or defeat specific enemies. In exchange, he grows you a steady supply of materials. There are 15 different seeds you can collect, and if you bring him all of them he gives you the Graceful Orchid Soak. Unfortunately, the Seed drops are quite random and it takes 30 minutes for plants to respawn so getting all 15 is pretty annoying.
These materials accumulate in real time, so you're free to go back to your journey after delivering the Seeds. The rarer materials take longer to mature and you can accumulate less of them. Remember to return to Zodiac Village when your harvest is ready.
Summary
Enter Zodiac Village by completing Chen Loong's quest. This secret location is a gathering place for all of the most important NPC vendors.
- Shen Monkey sells Gourds, Drinks, and Soaks in addition to letting you upgrade them.
- Xu Dog crafts Mortal and Celestial Medicines.
- The blacksmith, Yin Tiger can upgrade your armor.
- Challenge him if you dare.
- Provide Chen Loong with seeds and he grows you materials.
Written by: Tenkiei
