But Zhu Ganglie didn't care much; he was often captured along the road and had grown accustomed to it.

Moreover, being captured was better than facing the awkward confrontation with Baldy upon his return.

However, as they walked further, Zhu Ganglie became increasingly uneasy, and he was not alone in his apprehensions—Sun Wukong also felt something was amiss. Not only was the demon energy around them growing thicker, but the scent of blood blowing in the wind also intensified, becoming so pungent that even Zhu Ganglie and Sun Wukong felt nauseous.

As they continued forward, the resentment energy around them also intensified.

After crossing a mountain and rounding two bends, the landscape opened up before them, revealing a fortress city built into the mountain itself!

This enormous city, from a distance, appeared as a mountain, but upon closer inspection, it was evident that the mountain had been hollowed out and transformed into a vast cavern!

Hanging above the cavern's entrance was a huge banner sewn together from the skins of countless individuals, bearing the name in bold letters—"Mount Sumeru Cave Heaven!"

Below Mount Sumeru Cave Heaven, the sounds of shouting and horses whinnying were incessant, and everywhere they looked were monsters!

Both of them were startled by this sight!

There seemed to be at least a million minor demons here!

Zhu Ganglie, experienced as he was, had once led six hundred thousand heavenly soldiers, but the sight of almost double that number of demons here still left him in awe.

As for Sun Wukong, he had only ever commanded a band of monkeys, even when he was the Great Saint of the mountain.

No matter how large the mountain was, how many monkeys could it hold?

Thus, his forces had never exceeded a hundred thousand.

After he was suppressed under Five Fingers Mountain and later returned, only a few straggling monkeys remained.

Among the Seven Great Saints of the Demon Race, the Bull Demon King was the best at recruiting and managing troops, yet even he commanded only a few hundred thousand demons.

But here, there were a million demons, unavoidably stunning them both.

A million demon soldiers were drilling, their shouts unceasing.

Some trained in combat techniques, others practiced formations and spell use...

The scene was impeccably regular, comparable to the training of celestial soldiers in the Heaven Realm.

Seeing this, even Zhu Ganglie realized that these were no ordinary wild demons; they were definitely led by an experienced, tactical, and well-managed old demon.

"Goodness, no wonder they dare to stay rooted here; they really do have some confidence!" Sun Wukong thought to himself, but he was well aware that no matter how many demons there were, in the presence of Baldy, they were merely a dish of assorted fish sauce.

However, his aspiration to achieve a personal victory by sweeping through this place seemed somewhat challenging now.

They walked through the training ground and entered Mount Sumeru Cave Heaven.

As soon as they entered the cave, an overpowering, almost suffocating scent of blood rushed towards them!

What met their eyes was a vista of blood clouds, and at a glance, skulls piled up like mountain ridges, bones like forests.

Human hair was entangled together to form mats on the ground, and human skin was thrown into piles, rotting in pits, teeming with maggots, entwining the hair, creating a nauseating sight.

On the trunks of some old trees inside the cave, human tendons were wrapped around, some dried to the point of emitting a faint glow, while others were still fresh, their bloody veins causing one's scalp to tingle.

To the west, a group of lesser demons herded live humans into cages, waiting to be skinned and flayed alive!

To the east, another group of lesser demons trapped live humans to pillars, slaughter them open, skin and debone them, and cook them on the spot!

Eventually, it all turned into plates of collected herbs, queuing up to be sent into the second layer of the cave dwelling.

The entire cave resonated like a purgatory, filled with screams, cries, scolds, the sizzling of oil pans, the rumbling of boiling water in iron pots, and the incessant sounds of steaming heat...

Zhu Ganglie immediately vomited on the spot.

Sun Wukong also staggered a step or two, nearly kneeling on the ground!

It wasn't that Sun Wukong was scared, but in his entire life, he had fought in countless battles, fearless of armies by the thousands, yet he had never witnessed such a bloody, brutal scene.

The tremendous visual shock made this generation's Monkey King feel a rage he had never experienced before!

"What a bunch of vicious thugs, they truly deserve to die!"

As a demon, Sun Wukong wasn't exactly kind-hearted either.

Although he had never eaten humans, many demons around him did.

In his view, humans eating wild beasts, demons eating humans, it was all for survival, nothing reprehensible.

But mindless slaughter was a heinous crime!

In fact, the Heavenly Laws saw it similarly; it wasn't that killing humans was a greater sin than killing animals. Once in the court of Yama, everything was equal.

After all, once dead and entered into reincarnation, this life's plants could be humans in the next, essentially no one is nobler or more humble than anyone else.

Thus, Sun Wukong didn't particularly care about ordinary demons eating people;

nor did he care about Tang Sanzang eating demons.

But now, he was truly enraged!

However, Sun Wukong said nothing, carrying Zhu Ganglie along with a group of lesser demons towards the second layer of the cave dwelling.

Before long, everyone walked into the entrance of the second layer. The door wasn't closed, but it was covered with a layer of golden light, obscuring the view from outside.

Stepping in felt like the heavens and earth were shifting, the sun and the moon were spinning; Sun Wukong knew, he had entered the Mount Sumeru Cave Heaven!

Indeed, after passing through the golden light, they were no longer in a cave, but in a place that was tranquil and elegant, beautifully vast; with immortal grass and flowers to the left and right, tall pines and green bamboos in front and back; seas of flowers, undulating mountains, birds and mystical animals frolicking, spiritual herbs everywhere!

Just a moment ago it was a bloody human slaughterhouse, the next moment it turned out to be such a heavenly place, the drastic change was so vast, for a moment, both Sun Wukong and Zhu Ganglie were slightly stunned.

In the Mount Sumeru Cave Heaven, there was a path that extended far into the distance, leading to the third gate!

The demons carrying dishes made of human flesh, queued up in a long line, entering through the third gate.

Sun Wukong squinted his eyes, silent, quietly clutching the Jingu Bang in his palm, and continued forward.

Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang sat on a small wooden stump, idly dozing off, muttering under his breath, "What's up with Wukong and Wufan this time? To scout out a situation, and yet they have been gone for such a long time... "

The Six-Eared Macaque said, "Master, just now I checked, though this mountain is called Eight Hundred Li Lion Camel Ridge, it's actually hundreds of thousands of li in size! The mountain is too vast, demon energy is dense and lingers, even our six senses can hardly penetrate it... You know the Second Brother's temperament, he's been dawdling a bit.

As the First Brother follows the Second, naturally, they can't be fast."

Tang Sanzang thought about it, and it made sense, but it was really boring just sitting around, so he stood up, patted his butt, and pointed westward, "Since the mountain is so big, searching by oneself is slow, better if everyone splits up to search, and later see who captures more snacks, and who gets the best quality ingredients!"

No sooner had he spoken, Shar Wujing immediately stood by Tang Sanzang's side and said, "Master, I can go and search by myself, that's not a problem. But for you to walk alone in these wild and desolate mountains, if you wanted something to eat, no one would cook for you, if your legs become sore, no one would massage them for you; that would be my negligence. I better stay with you, just in case we encounter some good ingredients, we can cook them while they're fresh, right?"