Chapter 1450: Inscrutable

"Well, I can't help it, you know?" The man grumbled. "I'm no scientist. I just feel my way through these things."

"Master Reina had a very broad and thorough framework for her field that distilled her understanding of assassinations," Rui insisted. "Why don't you have one for mental techniques."

"Hah, assassinations are super simple and easy. Don't compare them to the most complex and inscrutable existence in this universe." The man snorted.

"Which is...?"

"The mind, young man, the mind." He got up, tapping the side of his head. "We know very little to nothing about how it works. Most mental masters rely on the fact that they too have minds to get past a lack of theoretical understanding and gain a more instinctual understanding or an understanding through lots of trial and error. But as for the core theory..."

He shrugged. "Perhaps only Martial Sages and Martial Transcendents understand more about it."

"You're telling me you have trouble understanding the mind despite having a Martial Mind and a Martial Path centered around minds?" Rui scoffed with skepticism.

"Hah, yes. I can tell you that there are mental techniques that affect the subconscious mind, the senses, and the conscious mind and they can be trained. But the core of it all is a mystery as far as everybody is concerned. What is the physical nature of the mind is something we have absolutely no clue about." The man remarked. "As far as we can tell, it may be some kind of fog of energy in the brain that leaks out of the head and can be detected and used to gauge more information about the mind. That is what the one and only individualistic technique that Ieyasu ever created is centered around."

"Hmmm," Rui considered the man's words. Science back on Earth had gone a lot farther in decrypting the mind, and while an absolute understanding was still far away, the fundamental nature of the mind was rather transparent.

It was the summation of a massive number of electrical impulses firing between neurons in the brain. Neuron plasticity ensured the development of patterns of electrical impulses across specific pathways that unfolded in response to other incoming neuron impulses, allowing for information to be stored and processed.

Understanding the structure and functionality of the brain was crucial for gaining a framework of the mind, which in turn was necessary to develop a comprehensive and ground-up framework of mental techniques.

"Still, you're just being lazy," Rui snorted. "Put some effort, I didn't come all the way here for something that even a child could come up with. There are things of the mind that can be learned just through introspection and observation, and I know Martial Masters are extremely good at both."

"Harsh, I suppose the wool can't be pulled over your eyes." The man remarked, before sighing. "Well. The mind is divided between the conscious and unconscious mind. I think we can all agree on that, right? The senses are sort of connected to the subconscious mind, which in turn processes it and sends the information to the conscious mind where it is evaluated and acted upon. Something like that. So mental techniques can be divided into techniques that affect consciousness and subconsciousness. However, you could also divide techniques by the effect they manifest, such as altering specific emotions or altering specific bodily functions, which are partially conscious and subconscious. After all, breathing is both conscious and subconscious, right? So a technique that affects the mind's control over breathing does not fall into either category cleanly. Then there are non-offensive mental techniques that work on one's self, like getting rid of pain or regulating emotions, these too have the same issue. Also also, there are mental techniques that seem to negatively impact the target, but we have no idea what the actual mechanism is, so those are just flying around. There are also techniques that can affect memory which are also arguably falling into both categories. Also-"

"-Enough," Rui raised his hand.

"It's a pain in the ass, right?" The man laughed. "It's hard to create a comprehensive framework around these things, so we just muddle around with techniques we have."

"Surely you can divide techniques into offensive, supplementary, and informative. You can at least divide the techniques that you do know into conscious, subconscious, hybrid, or unknown. Also, the effect it has on battle is also a useful way of categorizing it."

"We know, and we do. The issue is that too many of them cross too many lines or are unknown, so their utility becomes low," He shrugged, sighing. "We're going to have to wait for someone who is both great at mental techniques and also possesses an intimate understanding of the fundamental nature of mind. Perhaps they will figure things out."

Rui remained silent. He actually had the ability to organize and categorize mental techniques in a broader framework that was consistent, accurate, and reliable. But that was for another time.

It was not too much of an acute problem, just made his life more inconvenient.

"The only mental techniques I have are supplementary and one misdirection technique," Rui explained. "I want to learn the most effective principles for various kinds of mental techniques spanning across offensive and supplementary fields. I have a powerful mind, thus I'm not content learning just one or two mental techniques."

"Hm, I'm glad that you feel that way," The Master grew more serious. "Because that misdirection technique of yours irritates me."

Rui frowned. That was not what he expected to hear. "Why? I thought it was a remarkably powerful technique that would impress you."

"It is precisely because it is such a powerful technique that it pisses me off!" The man barked. "You are capable of such powerful misdirection, and what do you use it for?"

His expression crinkled with disdain. "To make people ignore you? That's it? You can do so much more! I'm glad you came here. That idiot assassin would have buried your talent for mental techniques!"