Mind Cores are used in Black Myth: Wukong to upgrade your attributes/stats permanently. They can be traded to Xu Dog in Chapter 2 > Crouching Tiger Temple > Cellar. He turns them into Celestial Medicines which let you pick the attribute you want to increase: Health, Mana, Stamina, Defense, Stamina Recovery Speed, Elemental Resistances.

They are one of the most important items in the game because they are the main way to improve your attributes. You can respec these at any by talking to Xu Dog again. This allows you to optimize your attributes for specific bosses. For example, if facing a boss that uses fire attacks you can respec and put more Mind Cores into Burn Resistance. However, reforging the Mind Cores into new Celestial Medicines costs a small fee measured in “Will” (the game’s currency, obtained from enemies and collecting green souls).

Most Mind Cores come as rewards from bosses or they are simply purchased at shrines. New ones become available for purchase at the start of every chapter, but they are available from every shrine throughout the chapter. A small amount of Mind Cores is found in the world from wooden chests.

You can fast travel between chapters at any time from Keeper’s Shrines. There’s still free-roam after the story. After the endboss you are put back in the Title Screen, here choose to Continue, it will spawn you before the final boss. You can still revisit all places from this point. Just don’t “Enter a New Cycle” in the Title Screen as this starts New Game and overwrites your save with no way back.

Work-in-Progress: More Mind Cores are still being added.

Chapter 1: Black Wind Mountain

1. Dropped by Boss: Lingxuzi – Forest of the Wolves > Guanyin Temple: story boss, can’t miss him.
2. Dropped by Boss: Black Bear Guai – Black Wind Cave > Bodhi Peak: story boss, can’t miss him.

Chapter 2: Yellow Wind Ridge

1. 2x Purchased from Shrine: 2x Mind Core can be purchased from any shrine in Chapter 2.
2. Dropped by Boss: Tiger Vanguard – Crouching Tiger Temple > Temple Entrance: From this shrine go straight up the stairs to the temple to find this boss.
3. Dropped by Boss: Stone Vanguard – Fright Cliff > Rockrest Flat: From this shrine take the left path to find this boss.
4. Dropped by Boss: Shigandang – In the same arena where you fought Stone Vanguard (previous boss), you must deliver all 6 Buddha’s Eyeballs to the big rock with faces on it. This will make the boss spawn. See Buddha’s Eyeballs Locations.
5. Dropped by Boss: “Tiger Vanguard” (Secret Version) – First, finish the Drunken Boar Questline. Then you enter the secret Chapter 2 area “Kingdom of Sahi”. The first boss in the secret area is the alternate version of “Tiger Vanguard”. This is different from the Tiger Vanguard in Crouching Tiger Temple.
6. Looted from Chest: Secret: Kingdom of Sahi > Sandgate Bound: To the right of this shrine in a wooden chest. To reach this area you must finish the Drunken Boar Questline.
7. Dropped by Boss: Yellow Wind Sage – Crouching Tiger Temple > Cellar: From this shrine slide down the sand and go left into the tornado.

Chapter 3: The New West

1. 4x Purchased from Shrine: 4x Mind Core can be purchased from any shrine in Chapter 3.
2. Dropped by Boss: Captain Wise-Voice – Pagoda Realm > Mani Wheel: unmissable story boss. Found directly after this shrine on the main path.
3. Dropped by Boss: Kang-Jin Star – Pagoda Realm > Warding Temple: Follow the path through Warding Temple until you slide down a snowy slope, it will trigger this boss fight.
4. Looted from Chest: Bitter Lake > North Shore of the Bitter Lake: From this shrine go straight ahead and follow the shoreline all the way to the end. There turn left and go up the path. When you reach the top, enter the cave and open the wooden chest on the right.
5. Looted from Chest: Valley of Ecstasy > Longevity Road: From this shrine go through the gate straight ahead where lots of frozen bodies are standing. Then take the left path and follow the right wall to find a wooden chest in the corner of the area (there’s one of the huge colossus enemies here too). The chest contains this.
6. Dropped by Boss: Yellowbrow – New Thunderclap Temple > Mahavira Hall: Directly after this shrine this will be the chapter’s endboss, can’t miss it.

Chapter 4: The Webbed Hollow

1. 4x Purchased from Shrine: 4x Mind Core can be purchased from any shrine in Chapter 4.
2. Looted from Chest: Webbed Hollow > Cliff of Oblivion – After beating the boss “Buddha’s Right Hand”, go over the hand, then go down the path deeper into the spider tunnels until you reach a big room with lots of enemies. The Mind Core is in a wooden chest in the lower area of this room. This is shortly before the next shrine “Lower Hollow”. You can simply lure away the enemies to the other end of the room and then run back to the chest to open it without having to clear out all enemies.
3. Looted from Chest: Temple of the Yellow Flower > Mountain Trail – In wooden chest guarded by long-neck tiger enemy, about 1 minute walk away after the shrine.
4. Dropped by Boss: The Scorpionlord – Secret: Purple Cloud Mountain > Bounds of Deity’s Abode: First, go to Chapter 4 Secret Area. Then this is found after this shrine, looks like a scorpion on a rooftop drinking alcohol. When you approach he will talk to you. Then you have to destroy the kegs below him to make him angry and trigger the fight.
5. Dropped by Boss: Duskveil – Purple Cloud Mountain > Cloudnest Peak: Found at the end of the Chapter 4 Secret Area.
6. Dropped by Boss: Hundred-Eyed Daoist Master – Temple of the Yellow Flower > Court of Illumination: Chapter 4 Endboss, can’t miss him.

Chapter 5: Flaming Mountains

1. 6x Purchased from Shrine: 6x Mind Core can be purchased from any shrine in Chapter 5.
2. Looted from Chest: Woods of Ember > Ashen Pass I – In wooden chest in the area where you fight the first Chapter 5 boss “Pale-Axe Stalwart”.
3. Looted from Chest: Woods of Ember > Camp of Seasons – From this shrine go over the next bridge, then continue until you go over another bridge. Follow the cliffside on the left to reach a wooden chest that contains this (guarded by enemies).
4. Looted from Chest: Furnace Valley > Valley Entrance – After passing the lava lake area you will go up a rocky path. Before the path bends right, you can take an optional path to the left where you find one of the shield enemies guarding a chest, it drops a Mind Core. This is just before the last stretch of path to the boss “Cloudy Mist, Misty Cloud”.
5. Looted from Chest: Furnace Valley > Valley Entrance – Same place as the above enemy. Looted from the wooden chest that’s guarded by the Earth Rakshasa enemy (see above, same location).
6. Looted from Chest: Furnace Valley > Rakshasa Palace – From this shrine go upstairs and there will be two huge giants, defeat both of them to get these items.
7. Looted from Chest: Field of Fire > Fallen Furnace Crater: From Fallen Furnace Crater turn around, backtrack down the path where the big ball was rolling earlier. Halfway down the path, on the left, the rolling ball will have destroyed a barrier. You can now go down the left, follow that new path. Just before reaching the next shrine “Cooling Slope”, you will find this on the left in a wooden chest.
8. Dropped by Boss: Yaksha King – Field of Fire > Fallen Furnace Crater: After beating Red Boy boss.

Chapter 6: Mount Huaguo

1. 6x Purchased from Shrine: 6x Mind Core can be purchased from any shrine in Chapter 6.
2. Dropped by Boss: Supreme Inspector – Foothills > Verdant Path: main story boss, unmissable.
3. Dropped by Boss: Poison Chief 1 – Foothills > Verdant Path: After you unlock the spell to fly on a cloud, stay on the upper plateau and fly left until you reach a small pond area with a quadratic rock sitting on a meadow. Dismount the cloud and go near the rock, it’s a boss. Looks like a rock that throws poison balls after you go near it (initially just looks like a quadratic rock). This is on the left/west of the upper plateau, BEFORE flying down to the big lake area.
4. Dropped by Boss: Poison Chief 2 – Foothills > Verdant Path: After you unlock the spell to fly on a cloud, stay on the upper plateau and fly right, stick to the right wall/edge of the area, stay on the upper plateau (don’t fly down to the big lake). You will reach a brown soil area (no green trees like the rest of area). There you find a quadratic rock, approach it to reveal this hidden boss.
5. Dropped by Boss: Water-Wood Beast – Foothills > Verdant Path: After you unlock the spell to fly on a cloud, this hidden boss is found in the back left corner of the lower lake area (the side from where you come from Verdant Path, not the far corner in the distance). Fly to the left/west of the area and you will see a disturbance in the water, the boss pops out of there.
6. Dropped by Boss: Son of Stones – Foothills > Verdant Path: After you unlock the spell to fly on a cloud, fly straight forward to the cliffs at the end of the area past the big lake. On the cliff sits a big monster, its head is glowing green which makes it easy to see from afar, it’s this boss.
7. Dropped by Boss: Gold Armored Rhino – Foothills > Rhino Watch Slope: After you unlock the spell to fly on a cloud, stay on the upper plateau and fly right until you reach the edge of the area, looks like a brown area without trees. When you approach you automatically get a cutscene, this is one of the mandatory story bosses that you must defeat to collect all armor pieces, so can’t miss him. This is BEFORE flying down to the big lake area. It looks like a big rhino with gold armor on its back, has a lot of health.
8. Dropped by Boss: Cloudtreading Deer – Foothills > Deer Sight Forest: after unlocking the flying cloud, fly forward over the big lake and to the right, where you see red trees.
9. Dropped by Boss: Emerald-Armed Mantis – Foothills > Mantis-Catching Swamp: After you unlock the spell to fly on a cloud, fly to the top left corner of the lower lake area. There is a big yellow tree. When you approach you get a cutscene that triggers this boss fight. If it doesn’t spawn, make sure you defeated the other 3 story bosses in the area for their mythical armor pieces (Gold Armored Rhino, Cloudtreading Deer, Feng-Tail General).