Shang Tsung's Flesh Pits

'Shang Tsung's Flesh Pits' have never been truly explained, although one can speculate as what their purpose had been. It is clear, however, that they were designed to create creatures, likely to do Shang Tsung's bidding. Furthermore, they may have been a source of limitless souls for the sorcerer, since due to his rapid aging he requires souls to maintain his youth. Thus, it can be concluded that the pits were a source of both minions for the evil sorcerer and a way of maintaining his youth when he needed to. This privelege may have been extended to Shao Kahn.

The only known characters to emerge from the pits to fight in Mortal Kombat was Meat (who was originally a secret skin in Mortal Kombat 4 and was then later transformed into an official character in Mortal Kombat Armageddon) and Mileena (confirmed in the second portion of her biography concerning Mortal Kombat (2011)).

The Flesh Pits and the Super-Tarkata
In Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, Shang Tsung's ending indicates that the sorcerer was both impressed and angered by Captain Marvel defeating him. Using his magic within his flesh pits where he tortures his victims, he mixed the blood on a torn piece of Captain Marvel's cape with that of a Tarkatan warrior creating a horrific race of Super-Tarkata that appears before him and his conbubines and yet they would forever be loyal to Shang Tsung. These creatures appeared somewhat similar in appearance to Dark Kahn.