Condensed Essence Lingzhi! The People of Water Filth Cave

"Benefactor, please be careful. Let me scout ahead for you." With that, the gray monkey hurriedly picked up an iron staff left behind by some unknown lesser demon and carefully made his way forward.

The two figures gradually disappeared into Water Filth Cave. Through the darkness, firelight soon began to appear in the depths of the cave.

Jiang Zhe suddenly paused. A faint smell of blood reached his nose.

He took a deep breath. As the light ahead finally grew bright, the scene deep inside the cave came fully into view.

Human after human was bound there, most of them young women, with even quite a few small children among them.

Besides those who were bound, many dead humans hung in midair, their bodies torn to shreds.

Jiang Zhe went deathly pale at the sight. Although he had long known how miserable humanity's lot was in the world of Journey to the West, he had never seen it with his own eyes.

Now, before him, dozens of humans were bound like pigs awaiting slaughter.

Their faces were all vacant, their vitality and spirit utterly gone.

They could not even wail anymore. They had lost all hope.

Jiang Zhe's body trembled at the sight.

He knew that Water Filth Cave had received little description in the original story. Even so, hundreds of ordinary people had died here without anyone knowing.

That was to say nothing of the eight-hundred-li Lion Camel Kingdom at the foot of Spirit Mountain.

That was true purgatory.

Looking at those despair-filled eyes, Jiang Zhe could not help closing his own.

"Benefactor, are you all right?" Sensing that something was wrong, the gray monkey carefully turned around and looked at Jiang Zhe, whose eyes were closed and whose face was deathly pale.

"I'm fine. Sorry to trouble you, but please send for some of your fellow monkeys to rescue these humans," Jiang Zhe said, taking a deep breath.

"It's what we should do," the gray monkey hurriedly replied.

The gray monkey looked at Jiang Zhe with sympathy. Perhaps he alone could most closely relate to how Jiang Zhe felt at that moment.

When the young monkeys had been wantonly tortured and killed, they too had been filled with despair.

The gray monkey swept his gaze over the humans and stepped forward to free those who were bound. He also began using his steel-like hands to dig pits, burying the humans who were already dead.

"It's all right now, it's all right. The benefactor has come to save you," the gray monkey said, comforting the children and women who were gradually recovering their spirits.

"Rest assured, benefactor, we'll take these survivors to a nearby town," the gray monkey assured Jiang Zhe as he comforted him.

"Sorry for the trouble," Jiang Zhe said with a slight nod.

[Rescued 37 humans. Earned 370 merit.]

The system's text flashed before Jiang Zhe's eyes and vanished. He walked slowly forward. Compared with the gray monkey's appearance, Jiang Zhe, being human himself, could more easily put these people at ease.

As Jiang Zhe approached, clarity gradually returned to the eyes of the women and children who had been scared senseless.

After the gray monkey explained things, they finally understood what had happened.

One after another, they knelt and bowed to Jiang Zhe.

"Thank you for saving our lives, benefactor," a rather dignified elderly man said to Jiang Zhe, trembling.

"It's all right now, old sir. I'll take you somewhere safe," Jiang Zhe said patiently.

"Benefactor, did you come looking for the treasure that demon king hid away?" a woman who had been talking with the gray monkey suddenly turned and asked Jiang Zhe.

"Yes. Do you know where it is?" Jiang Zhe looked at her expectantly.

"I do. When that demon king was going to boil us, I saw a purple lingzhi. But just now, I don't know why, she put it away and went out."

The woman grew a little nervous as she spoke.

"Don't worry. The benefactor has already dealt with the Demon King of Havoc," the gray monkey hurriedly reassured her.

"Is that monster dead?" The woman's expression changed in shock, and she held the little girl in her arms tightly.

"He's dead. Not just him-I dealt with the other demon kings nearby too."

"You should be able to live in peace for a while now," Jiang Zhe said patiently.

"Thank you for saving our lives, benefactor. If I remember correctly, the Demon King of Havoc should have hidden that lingzhi behind his throne." As she spoke, the woman looked toward the stone seat deep inside the cave, surrounded by countless bones.

Jiang Zhe walked forward. Wild Bull Force circulated within him, guided by his magic power to cover both arms. He could clearly feel the power filling them.

It felt as though his arms truly possessed the strength of an ox.

Without further hesitation, he clenched his fist and smashed it down hard in front of him.

With a thunderous boom, the throne formed of hard stone instantly shattered under his punch, fragments scattering through the air.

Behind the throne, a purple lingzhi with a full nine leaves appeared above a spring.

"Is that... Condensed Essence Lingzhi?" the gray monkey said, sounding uncertain.

"What does it do?" Jiang Zhe naturally knew nothing about the heavenly treasures of this mythological world. He only had a rough idea about things like Peaches of Immortality and Ginseng Fruit.

He had never even heard this name before. Though it was a heavenly treasure, he truly did not know its specific effects.

"I heard an elder say that a purple lingzhi with nine leaves is called Condensed Essence Lingzhi. It forms by absorbing the turbid Qi of heaven and earth and the essence of moonlight. If mortals consume it, they can live two or three hundred years, gain a tremendous increase in strength, and purge impurities from their bodies," the gray monkey said, recalling what he had heard.

"That's wonderful!" Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Zhe pulled it free and held it in his hand. A fresh fragrance filled his nose.

Just smelling it made him feel as though every cell in his body were cheering.

Taking it would indeed bring tremendous benefits.

But... mortals could take it too.

Jiang Zhe looked around at the thirty-odd people beside him. Every one of them bore injuries of varying severity.

Without further hesitation, Jiang Zhe plucked three of the nine purple leaves.

"Sorry to trouble you, but please mix these into water and have them drink it." Jiang Zhe handed the green leaves to the gray monkey.

The gray monkey stared at the three purple leaves before him, momentarily stunned.

"Benefactor, you're far too kind."

"It's what I should do. Besides, if they hadn't told us, we wouldn't have found it."

"Oh, and this leaf is for you. Sorry to trouble you, but please take care of them and send them to the nearest town."

"Rest assured, benefactor! Even if it costs me my life, I'll see that your fellow humans are taken care of." The gray monkey patted his chest, his expression unusually serious.

He then quickly drew some spring water, crushed the leaves, and mixed them into it.

He handed it to the surviving humans one by one.

The gray monkey could not help sighing. He had heard before that many human cultivators carried out missions to slay demons and save their own kind.

But he had never seen a cultivator share heavenly treasures with ordinary people.

Jiang Zhe had even saved a leaf for him, a demon.

After drinking the medicine, the people's injuries healed and their spirits recovered.

The gray monkey then prepared to take the people and leave with Jiang Zhe, returning to Water Curtain Cave.

But Jiang Zhe declined.

"You go back first. I'm going to cultivate here for a while." Jiang Zhe glanced at the sky. Night had fallen before he knew it.

The Condensed Essence Lingzhi was a gain, but it was not his greatest one.

What came next was his greatest gain.

The prize draw and the fusion with Primordial Chaos Creation Divine Lightning!