Chapter 127: The Six Great Mental Arts, The Six Great Attributes

"It is precisely because of this irreplaceable role that these six foundational mental techniques are known as the Fundamental Mental Arts.

"The six fundamental mental arts each enhance different areas."

Shi Tiexin immediately pulled out his notebook to record this, while Si Chongtian continued to hold court.

"Fundamental Mathematics enhances Comprehension."

"Fundamental Rhetoric enhances Sensitivity."

"Fundamental Natural History enhances Speculation."

"Fundamental Biology enhances Aptitude."

"Fundamental Physics enhances Force."

"Fundamental Chemistry enhances Vitality."

"Comprehension, Sensitivity, Speculation, Aptitude, Force, and Vitality—these are the six major attributes. Any one of them will broadly influence a practitioner's combat effectiveness. I will briefly explain the specific effects of each," Si Chongtian said, rattling off the information like a scholar detailing his own collection.

"Comprehension is a somewhat broad term. More accurately, it refers to the speed of grasping rule-based and technical subjects. The higher your comprehension, the faster you can enhance your understanding of nature, the universe, and rational matters."

"Sensitivity—when I first encountered this term, I didn't even understand it. Later, I realized it actually refers to the speed of perceiving intentional and artistic subjects. Not all martial arts follow a rational path; many are emotional. The higher your sensitivity, the faster and deeper you can understand life, emotions, and abstract matters."

"Comprehension and sensitivity are on par. My mentor once said that comprehension grasps the Laws of Heaven, while sensitivity touches the Laws of Humanity. The Laws of Heaven are precise but overly cold; the Laws of Humanity are surging but prone to chaos. Each has its own merits."

Comprehension, sensitivity.
The Laws of Heaven, the Laws of Humanity?

Shi Tiexin felt a glimmer of realization. He suddenly understood why he had such a profound feeling for the short man's snake-style fist while writing: it must have been the influence of his sensitivity.

"Natural History enhances Speculation. Speculation makes one wise. Those with strong speculation have high mental stability; they are not easily bewitched, less likely to suffer from inner demons, and less prone to entering extremes."

"You should know that many people advocate that martial techniques have no inherent good or evil, only the people using them do. But some demonic techniques truly affect the human mind; otherwise, why would the Demonic Sect be called the Demonic Sect? Not everyone who shouts that techniques have no morality can actually control demonic arts. Those with higher speculation have stronger resistance to alien mental influences and are better able to maintain their sense of self."

Shi Tiexin nodded earnestly.

Demonic arts, blackening—these things felt too far away for him. But as he continued to climb, he would eventually encounter all sorts of unexpected problems. Perhaps among them would be mental attacks or demonic bewitchment—or maybe not. Regardless, everything he knew about that came from pulp novels.

But what if those novelists weren't just spouting nonsense?

The Speculation attribute must be leveled up. Definitely.

"Biology enhances Aptitude. This sounds magical at first, and many people don't understand why practicing mental arts would directly change the physical body. But based on my own experience, this so-called 'aptitude' doesn't mean having denser bones or a stronger physique; there are plenty of physical techniques that can achieve that."

"Biological aptitude refers to your compatibility, adaptability, and tolerance for various mental techniques."

"You might not understand that, and to be honest, I don't fully grasp it either. My mentor said that upon reaching the second tier of mental arts, practitioners with achievements in biology can use mental arts to modify their own bodies, making them faster, more responsive, and more resilient. The effects are divine. Whether these mental arts can be applied to oneself depends on whether the body can withstand them."

"The stronger your physical techniques, the stronger your body, and the more you can handle. If you're a fool when it comes to physical techniques but your aptitude attribute is high enough, that's fine too. If you possess both high physical skill and high aptitude, you're invincible. After the second tier, many mental arts require external combat application, which also requires support from the aptitude attribute. The higher the aptitude, the more powerful the mental techniques you can bear."

Compatibility?

Shi Tiexin pondered and asked a question: "I worked as security at the乡试 (provincial exam) venue today and saw that everyone displayed a six-colored light layer. Does the aptitude attribute have an impact on that?"

"So, Big Brother, you were guarding the provincial exams today? That's perfect; I can use that as an example," Si Chongtian’s knowledge in this area was clearly solid. "To be precise, any of the six fundamental mental arts will affect various mental techniques, though the relationship is sometimes direct and sometimes indirect. The aptitude attribute does indeed affect the light layer. My mentor clearly stated that the stronger the aptitude, the less the extra expenditure required to condense the light layer."

So that was it; it directly affected the light layer. And since it had such long-term implications, the Aptitude attribute had to be leveled up. Absolutely.

"Physics enhances Force. This force increases the power of a martial artist's strikes and also has a certain effect on the physical body. But its greater utility lies in mental arts. When releasing a mental technique, the higher the force, the denser the arrangement of mental energy, increasing its penetrating power and durability. Simply put, the higher the force, the greater the power. In terms of the light layer, it means the light layer is sturdier and of higher intensity."

Of course, this was just a simple explanation. The specifics would only become apparent when he was able to cast other mental techniques.

The stronger the force, the stronger the light layer? And it had long-term influence as well. Hmm, the Force attribute had to be leveled up. Definitely.

"Finally, Fundamental Chemistry enhances Vitality. Its effect on the physical body is negligible—take it or leave it. But its effect on mental techniques is obvious. It's simple but exceptionally effective: it increases the recovery speed of mental energy. Although it has no other effects, the more singular it is, the more powerful it becomes. Aptitude also adds a bit to recovery speed, but it can't compare to the bonus from the Vitality attribute."

"The effect is top-notch—whoever uses it knows!"

Mental energy recovery speed?

Did that even need to be said? Level it up, level it up, I must level it up! I'll max it out!

Wait, is there even such a thing as "maxing it out"?

Shi Tiexin immediately asked: "I roughly understand the roles of the six attributes. Comprehension and Sensitivity improve practice speed; Speculation enhances mental resilience; Aptitude, Force, and Vitality directly improve the effects of using and releasing mental arts. So, how much can these six attributes be increased? The levels of fundamental mental arts vary; do they all provide the same amount of increase?"

"Good, Big Brother Tie, you hit the nail on the head. That's a crucial question; I can tell you're an insider! But before I explain that, I have to mention one more thing." Si Chongtian scratched his head and said with a mysterious expression: "Big Brother Tie, have you ever heard of the 'Interface'?"

"Interface?!"

Shi Tiexin was suddenly shaken. He immediately thought of the Vision System attached to him.

Could it be that he wasn't the only one who possessed a system?