From Frey's perspective, Lu Yuan fell silent after hearing her explanation, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
She thought she had frightened him.
"Hey, don't worry," Frey reassured him. "We've tested this potion. It has no effect unless you drink it, and it isn't as frightening as you imagine. One bottle isn't enough to transform someone completely. In theory, they'd have to drink many bottles."
Lu Yuan and Oden were both puzzled. Many bottles? Would anyone keep drinking them? Surely anyone with any sense would notice something was wrong.
Frey looked at Lu Yuan as though she had expected the question.
"The truly frightening thing about this potion isn't that it can change a person's Pathway. It lowers their guard and makes them dependent on it. Most Transcendence practitioners have stronger wills than others their age, even if they aren't exceptionally resolute. They wouldn't blindly trust a potion someone handed them. Even if you slipped it to one of them and got them to drink it, a single bottle wouldn't transform them. If they stopped taking it, nothing else would happen."
"But that's exactly what makes this potion so terrifying. It weakens a person's resistance to taking more. After drinking it, they let down their guard to varying degrees. Some do so more than others, and we still can't determine why."
A mental effect that varied from person to person?
"How can a potion do that? Could the difference just be that some people have stronger wills than others?" Oden muttered in Lu Yuan's mind.
Lu Yuan relayed Oden's question.
Frey shook her head. "No. If only it were that simple. We've captured several people who took this kind of potion, but from what we've observed, its effect doesn't seem to depend on a person's mental fortitude or the strength