Chapter 724 - 458: Three Souls and Seven Spirits
The squirrel kept struggling, letting out sounds akin to screeching.
After a moment,
Blood seeped from its seven orifices and it passed out instantly.
Wang Ye sensed its vital signs, confirming it had died.
Moreover, its Primordial Spirit naturally dissipated.
In four words, its soul was scattered.
After confirming this result, Wang Ye couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
He couldn’t understand why soul transplant led to the squirrel’s soul scattering.
Clearly, he had transferred the squirrel’s soul using the correct method, and the body used as a vessel had just died, with the main organs and functions undamaged. Theoretically, the soul transplant should succeed.
But it failed.
Moreover, Wang Ye couldn’t identify where exactly he went wrong.
He carefully reviewed the entire process of the soul transplant.
Extraction, transfer, implantation.
Throughout the process, the squirrel’s Primordial Spirit was in a protected state,
The only possible cause of failure could be residual memories in the original brain, potentially harming the outsider. But that would only cause harm, for how much memory could a squirrel’s almond-sized brain hold?
Not to the extent of directly killing the Primordial Spirit, making the soul scatter.
Looking at the remaining four or five squirrels, Wang Ye was no longer interested in continuing the soul transplant experiment.
He needed to figure out why the squirrel’s soul transfer had failed.
Otherwise, continuing soul transplant would only lead to losses and the harm of life.
Wang Ye sat cross-legged on the ground, carefully searching through his vast knowledge.
He wanted to find a theoretical explanation within his existing knowledge system to solve this problem.
After a moment, he indeed found a related concept in his mind.
Three Souls and Seven Spirits.
This concept originates from the Daoist School, stating that the human soul is composed of "Three Souls and Seven Spirits."
Among them, the soul of the Three Souls refers to the spirit that can exist independently of the body, symbolizing the abilities of thought, response, and emotion. They are named Fetal Radiance, Shuang Spirit, Yao Spirit. Some say Celestial Soul, Earth Soul, Life Soul.
The spirit of the Seven Spirits, on the other hand, can only manifest when attached to the body. They are named Corpse Dog, Fushi, Sparrow Shade, Thief Swallow, Non-Poison, Filth Remover, Lung Odor.
Each name is very abstract; without name explanations, one can’t guess what function they have.
Yet this system is indeed reasonable and very rigorous.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, those who are vegetative or brain dead lack souls and spirits. Modern science cannot refute this because it can’t explain the cause of most vegetative conditions today or cure them.
These patients, even with complete body functions, remain bedridden for decades without waking. Western medicine attributes this to brain nerve issues since current Western medicine hasn’t thoroughly understood the brain.
The brain is a remarkably complex organ, even with current technologies, it can’t detect a concussion through regular imaging studies, thus today’s society has corresponding fraud methods; claiming a concussion can fleece a sum for medical expenses.
The issue Wang Ye faces now, modern science cannot help him solve,
Only the ancient Daoist concept of Three Souls and Seven Spirits vaguely corresponds.
Because he indeed felt something missing in the sea of consciousness after the squirrel’s soul transfer, but couldn’t pinpoint what was missing.
Since his understanding of the Primordial Spirit is currently fuzzy,
Wang Ye connected his mind to the internet, carefully searching for explanations about the Three Souls and Seven Spirits.
The first soul of the Three Souls, Fetal Radiance, is also the Celestial Soul, Main Soul. Yang.
It manifests in the head, and in Traditional Chinese Medicine, all human thoughts are governed by the Fetal Radiance.
If this soul is missing, one loses consciousness and cognition, becoming what is called a vegetative state.
This squirrel showed basic thinking ability post soul transfer, still having the capability to resist before death, so it definitely retained this soul.
The second soul, named Shuang Spirit, is also called Life Soul, Human Soul, Awakened Soul. Half Yin and Yang. It primarily shows in keen reflexes, representing survival abilities. Some are naturally sluggish, like autism, Down syndrome, intellectual disabilities usually indicate an issue with this soul.
The third soul is named Yao Spirit, the Earth Soul, Life Soul. Yin. It determines a person’s sexual orientation, reproductive ability. It decides the choice of reproductive partners; losing it after a breakup is called "losing the soul", those with particularly strong Yao Spirits tend to be more emotional.
Except for the first soul Fetal Radiance, other two souls aren’t too important, even losing them retains basic survival ability, albeit presenting abnormally.
Thus, Wang Ye suspects the issue probably lies with the Seven Spirits, likely he didn’t take the squirrel’s Seven Spirits during soul transfer.
He recalled that during the extraction of the squirrel’s soul, it indeed felt a bit too feeble.
This very likely happened because he only extracted the Three Souls and didn’t take out the remaining Seven Spirits, leading to the squirrel’s inability to maintain body health post soul transfer, hence dying quickly.
Compared to the primary Three Souls, the Seven Spirits each symbolize something quite simple.