Zhou You's Theory of the Human Body
Under Yue Guan's disgusted gaze, Zhou You completed the dissection.
Fortunately, the body was very fresh and had little odor; the smell of blood dissipated after washing.
"Have you figured out what the problem is?" Yue Guan immediately came over as soon as Zhou You finished his work.
Despite his seemingly disgusted expression, it was actually just his obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness, but he knew very well that this was a necessary job.
As long as he doesn't get his hands on it, anything is fine.
Zhou You shook his head. "Judging from the autopsy results, nothing abnormal was found. In fact, some of the internal organs still have strong activity. This body died very slowly."
The process of an organism dying is not completed in an instant. What we generally consider "death" refers to the state in which all bodily functions completely cease to function.
However, in a newly deceased body, some tissues and cells still continue to function due to inertia. At this time, the deceased's body is still active and continues to carry out metabolic activities until all cells and organs die completely due to lack of blood sugar and oxygen supply.
Therefore, theoretically speaking, even a person who has been medically declared brain dead can live for a long time as long as they are given a continuous supply of oxygen and an external life support system to help maintain bodily circulation.
The experimental monkeys are in a similar state. Their entire brain has completely stopped working. Logically, without the brain's regulation, the body should gradually move towards death, because functions such as breathing, body circulation, and hormone regulation all require the participation of the brain or brainstem.
However, Zhou You's investigation revealed that its body tissues still maintained considerable activity, as if they were unaware that their "leader" was dead, and that another system had taken over the body and continued to carry out life activities.
It wasn't until Zhou You performed surgery to dissect the body that the system was completely destroyed.
This is actually a very shocking thing.
Zhou You discovered that this control system was not a visible material structure, but something on another level. He wiped the water off his hands and had a rough idea in his mind.
He looked at Yue Guan, pondering how to explain his conclusions to this "native".
The problem is actually not complicated. The experimental monkeys did not die from acute illness, nor was there anything wrong with the drugs. They were killed by "themselves," and the culprit was the [Corpse Demon].
In the world of "One Person", there is a major sect called the "Three Demons Sect". Despite having the word "demon" in its name, it is actually a prestigious and righteous sect, whose ancestors were genuine immortals.
The Three Demons Sect's cultivation focuses on [Nature Skill]. The core theory of its cultivation method is "severing the Three Corpses." The specific method involves using the sect's Arts to draw out the Three Poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance from the cultivator's body and manifest them as the Three Corpses.
The Three Demons Sect believes that in order to eliminate the Three Corpses, one must first confront Three Corpses directly. Therefore, one must lure the Three Corpses out of the body, tame them, train them, and eventually control them before eliminating them.
The essence of the "Three Corpses" is the manifestation of desires generated within a person's essence, energy, and spirit, and they parasitize the five internal organs as supervisors of these desires.
Therefore, theoretically, the stronger a person's essence, energy, and spirit, the stronger their Three Corpses will be. Especially for cultivators, if powerful Three Corpses are not restrained in time, they may form Corpse Demons, causing them to take over.
The experimental monkey, having undergone enhancement, reached an extreme level of vitality and spirit by the third stage. However, its own sexuality could not keep up with this enhancement speed, causing its Three Corpses to expand rapidly in a short period of time, turning it into Corpse Demon.
Compared to the true nature of the experimental monkey, the Corpse Demon was far too powerful, so the latter decisively killed the former, wanting to usurp its powerful body.
Corpse Demons are the manifestation of desires, born from essence, energy, and spirit, and rooted in the Five Viscera and Six Bowels. Therefore, they are naturally able to take control of the physical body, which is why the bodies of experimental monkeys can still maintain normal life activities after the brain dies.
However, the brain is the abode of the Primordial Spirit, and it is not so easy to seize. It would take the Corpse Demon a considerable amount of time to take it over. Therefore, the experimental monkeys initially appeared to be in a state of brain death.
If given more time, Zhou You and Yue Guan might have witnessed the monkey's "resurrection," but unfortunately, Zhou You didn't give it that chance.
Sure enough, when Zhou You tried to explain the reason using Daoist theory, Yue Guan looked completely unable to understand. This had nothing to do with intelligence; it was simply because he had no relevant background knowledge, so naturally, he found it difficult to understand.
Moreover, some abstract concepts in Daoist theory require a certain cultural background to understand. Douluo Continent is a worldview that combines Chinese and Western fantasy, while the Spirit Hall's thinking is more Western, making it more difficult for them to understand Eastern philosophy.
Seeing Yue Guan's blank expression, Zhou You knew he had to rephrase the story in a way that Yue Guan could understand.
He recalled the various theories he had learned in his previous and current lives, reorganized his thoughts, and then slowly began to speak.
"Teacher, do you know how many layers the human body has?"
"Hmm?" What kind of question is this? Yue Guan frowned.
Zhou You immediately asked about the number of layers of structure, which presupposed that there was an answer to this question. However, at present, the scientific progress in the Douluo Continent is still in a relatively primitive stage of natural philosophy, and Yue Guan himself only has a superficial understanding of human anatomy.
According to modern academic disciplines, Yue Guan's understanding of the human body is still at the stage of gross anatomy, lacking microscopic knowledge of human cells and tissues, and therefore he cannot answer the structural questions raised by Zhou You.
Fortunately, Zhou You had anticipated this, and before he could answer, he continued, "In my opinion, the human body can be roughly divided into five layers."
"From the outside in, the first layer is the physical body, which is also the material shell that carries human self-consciousness. It is visible and tangible, and is the general carrier of all tangible life activities."
Yue Guan was captivated by his words and listened intently. Zhou You's first point already represented his complete understanding of the human body, and he was eager to know what else was to come.
"The second layer is the Etheric Body, which is formed from human life energy and has its own operating rules. It is generally invisible to the naked eye, but the aura it generates can be sensed, reflecting the state of the physical body, such as whether it is healthy or sick."
"The third layer is the Mind Body, which is connected to the physical body, resides in the brain, and reflects a person's management skills, logic, memory, personality, and self-awareness."
After Yue Guan had digested the information for a while, Zhou You continued, "The fourth layer is the Mental Body. This is a more metaphysical entity, formless and intangible, not connected to any tangible matter, yet it is the most important link for humans to communicate with heaven and earth, governing intuition, emotions, and spiritual perception."
"The fifth layer is the Spirit Body, which is the innermost layer of a person, the origin of spirituality, and the fundamental reason why I am 'me'."
"These five layers are interdependent. Damage to any one layer, or a major imbalance, will lead to the alienation of the living organism."
Zhou You had done his best to translate, and finally concluded. "This experimental monkey's overall structure collapsed because its Mental Body perished, therefore..."
When Zhou You saw Yue Guan staring intently at him, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
He seems to have said too much; even his simplified theories are too advanced for people of this era.