Man-in-Stone Questline

Xu Dog's Store - Chapter 2 Stock The Man-in-Stone is a character, boss, and eventually a merchant that you may meet in Chapter 2 of Black Myth Wukong. He'll ask you to get something from a nearby cave, and if you defeat him in battle, he'll give you a Transformation Spell, and then he'll start selling you items.

Where is the Man-in-Stone Found?

You can meet the Man-in-Stone in a place called Fright Cliff in Chapter 2 of Yellow Wind Ridge. It can be reached by traveling to Sandgate Village, defeating the King of Flowing Sands and Second Rat Prince, and then taking the path to the right across the rope bridge from the large sealed stone door.

Take the path up Fright Cliff to the Squall Hideout Shrine, and stay off the path to the right that goes into the narrow gap. You might hear someone calling you from below, so make your way under the bridge while being careful of the sudden attacks of the new stone enemy type. Poisestone is a smaller and faster version of Palestone, capable of dashing and releasing projectiles. Defeating it will remove the rock's body, but the legs will remain and start launching damaging kicks if you don't arrest and destroy it.

At the end of the gap, you will find a strange stone. He is truly a Man-in-Stone, and is said to have been trapped in stone form. He hopes one of the rock guai in the large cave nearby holds the secret to restore him to his former form, and he asks you to find it.

You'll find the cave in question on the left side of the way up from the Squall Hideout region. Enter the large tunnel and stay to the left to defeat any Rock Guai you come across.

At the end of the passage inside the cave, you'll find the object the Man-in-Stone is looking for - a larger statue with glowing blue crystals. Don't give in to its beauty and watch out for the Poisestone on the walls that can attack you out of nowhere.

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This battle is unique because the giant statue called Mother of Stone, with the crystals, doesn't actually fight you. It doesn't move, but it has so much health that you have to whittle it down.

Your enemies here are the Palestones embedded in the ground and walls around you. Make no mistake, this will be a battle of stamina as you will have to fight off the barrage of Palestones that come your way.

When you take enough damage, the Stone Mother will scream, which means a Palestone will quickly appear to defend her. This is the time to stop attacking, restore your stamina, and be ready to dodge the oncoming enemy. Your success depends on your ability to deal with each wave of Palestone while minimizing the damage you take, and understanding their melee and ranged attacks.

After you defeat two waves of one Palestone each, the third wave will have two Palestones at once. This can be a big problem if they attack together. Deflecting their quartz missiles isn't that difficult... until you're faced with one attempting to slam into you as well.

This is the time to use everything in your arsenal to stay alive. Make sure you use your Spirit attacks to focus on a target, use any stored Focus Points, and use Immobilize or Cloud Step to get out of danger.

There's a final wave of two Palestones after this, so you'll be fighting a total of six. Don't hold back and use your Transformation Spell to take down one of the enemies immediately so you don't get too overwhelmed. Feel free to retreat and heal to avoid their projectiles.

Once you've knocked down all six Palestones, the Stone Mother can't do anything, so just keep attacking until the boss is destroyed. You will receive a Stone Essence Key Item, as well as some Stone Spirits and Yaoguai Cores.

Back to space. Once you have given the Stone Essence, the Man-in-Stone will appear from the ground and call you gullible for giving it to him. That's not pretty, and it looks like he deserves to be hurt to get your reward.

Despite having a boss health bar and all, the Man-in-Stone "boss" is easy to defeat, as it only has about as much health as an ordinary Pitstone, and only does their standard attacks. Use Immobilize, accumulate Focus Points, and deliver a powerful attack to defeat him.

After realizing his mistake, the Man-in-Stone will immediately hide back on the ground and beg for mercy. You can now take the Stone Essence from him again, which will turn into the Azure Dust Transformation Spell! Finally, the slow but steady power of Rock Guai is in your hands in battle!

Unlike the Red Waves wolf transformation, you will be very slow, unable to dodge, and a large target. On the bright side, you'll be immune to all status effects while transformed, and you'll deal heavy damage that can take down most enemies. Instead of getting stronger when attacking, you'll get stronger while taking damage, allowing you to build up energy for a powerful jump attack spell in return!

As an added bonus, if you keep bothering the Man-in-Stone, he'll promise to prepare goods to sell on your next visit. Be sure to take advantage of this offer, as he will have a decent selection of (very expensive) goods!