Generally speaking, few cultivators chose mind arts through pure single-path cultivation. The main reason was that pure single-path cultivation could produce too few derived skills, making it easy to target and counter, stripping away the flexibility to adapt measures to local conditions and respond to changing circumstances.
Take Rhetoric, for example. Pure Rhetoric could only unlock a scant few skills from the Education System, Mind System, and Language System. It was far too easy to see through. Even its most combat-capable skill, "Word Spirit," possessed no physical effects whatsoever in the hands of a pure Rhetoric cultivator.
It could not pummel enemies, could not emit light or electricity, and could not even speak words ordinary people could hear. It was merely a simple manifestation of the mind, seemingly useless in every way.
But—
Pure cultivators were not without their advantages.
Their advantage was that within the scope of the Second Heavenly Layer, pure cultivators advanced the fastest, and the bonuses to a single-system ability were also the strongest.
Although the Word Spirit of a pure Rhetoric cultivator could not pummel the flesh, once they unleashed a set of "Repentance Fist," "Great Enlightenment Leg," "Blunt Warning Staff," and "Prodigal Son's Return Saber," every strike landed as a critical hit upon the opponent's mind.
Once that whole set was applied, the opponent would immediately drop to their knees with a thud, burst into loud sobs, and cry out, "Coach, I want to play basketball!"
Shi Tiexin bound all three left, center, and right thought meridians of this world to Rhetoric.
Since they were bound to exactly the same skill tree, the three thought meridians continuously drew closer to one another, as though twisting their strength into a single rope.
The knowledge accumulated through Rhetoric simultaneously illuminated all three thought meridians, causing layer