Rule of thirds?

One of the most known photography rule, or so-called rule, is perhaps the Rule Of Thirds.  And there is also saying that the only rule is that there is no rule.

The issue is that there are lots of elements in an image that could effect how our mind reads, and foremost, the luminance value.  There are perhaps unlimited ways of balancing an image, for example this image, which defies the rule of thirds.