**Chapter 85: Severing Mortal Ties**
In short, distributing aptitude enhancement potions wasn’t a troublesome task. In many cases, it was assigned to golems or artificial beings.
Jie Ming, however, was someone who listened to advice. Confirming Clark’s lack of malice, he accepted the task without much resistance and set off immediately.
Piloting the Academy’s dispersal equipment—a sleek, small airship equipped with an automated dispersal device and energy detection system—he followed the coordinates provided by his mentor, heading smoothly toward the designated area.
As the airship descended, he saw a small team waiting to receive him, led by a regally dressed local lord.
When Jie Ming saw the lord’s face, he froze, his pupils contracting.
He recognized this lord!
They had met a few times before. It was this very lord who had sent him to Noren Academy!
The area he was assigned to was none other than his hometown in this world!
Only now did he truly understand Clark’s intention behind assigning him this task.
In a year, he would participate in the comprehensive test organized by Noren Workshop, involving hundreds of academies.
Though the exact reasons and purposes were unclear, given Noren Workshop’s sudden mandate for this test and the requirement for high-level wizards and apprentices to return, those who passed were likely destined for other arrangements.
While Jie Ming remained humble, he didn’t underestimate himself. He wasn’t sure if he’d take first place, but passing the test was certain.
Given the intensity of Noren Workshop’s actions, those who passed would likely not return to Noren Plane 13, perhaps not even for rest periods.
Even if he could return, it would likely be far in the future. By then, his mortal parents would likely have passed away.
Thus, Clark had arranged this task, giving Jie Ming a chance to see his family one last time before leaving the plane, under the guise of an official duty.
Though stern and reserved, his mentor had shown a subtle, human touch.
Yet, upon realizing this, Jie Ming found his emotions surprisingly calm.
Instead of rushing home, he first handled the task formally, exchanging permissions with the local lord and engaging in academic discussions at the lord’s laboratory.
Only four or five days after accepting the task did Jie Ming bid farewell to the lord, reaching his hometown as part of the dispersal schedule.
Taking a break to “replenish energy,” he landed the airship near the edge of his hometown and visited his parents.
The reunion was even more subdued than he’d expected.
Pushing open the familiar wooden door, he saw his parents, slightly aged but still healthy.
They showed a hint of surprise and joy at his return, but it wasn’t overly enthusiastic.
After all, under the wizards’ deliberate control for “population optimization,” residents were encouraged to have many children.
Even ordinary farmers, supported by ample food and excellent medical systems, commonly had five or six children.
For a small merchant family like Jie Ming’s, with access to more resources, the number was even higher.
Before he left, his family already had seven or eight siblings.
By the time he returned, that number had soared to over a dozen.
When Jie Ming opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of children playing in the courtyard.
To his parents, he was just one of many children—one who had “left home to make his mark.”
They were proud of his achievements but felt little sorrow at his departure or excitement at his return, even tinged with a sense of unfamiliarity.
Jie Ming, now with the mindset of an adult and tempered by the transcendent world, had long since detached from mortal familial bonds.
He felt gratitude toward the parents who raised him, but there was no deep sorrow in parting.
Though he had wondered if he’d feel sadness before coming, those feelings vanished upon meeting them.
It was regrettable but not overly sentimental—like recalling a childhood friend you once played with, only to realize you’d lost contact, and one day thinking of them again.
As for his parents, after he was taken to the Academy by the lord, his family had received substantial subsidies from “nobles”—hidden benefits for wizard apprentices.
With these subsidies, his father had risen from a small merchant to one of the town’s leading businessmen.
Their life was prosperous, and his father had even taken several new “companions.”
Overall, his family wasn’t deeply affected by his sudden return. Instead, his father’s new companions showed concern in their eyes.
On Noren Plane 13, transcendent powers were strictly concealed from ordinary people.
They assumed Jie Ming had been chosen by a noble, becoming the lord’s retainer (or even a plaything), and held a natural awe for these “nobles.”
Seeing him return without attendants or a carriage, they worried he might have angered the lord and been exiled, or perhaps had fled.
Either way, it could jeopardize their comfortable life.
Not long after entering, Jie Ming, half-amused and half-exasperated, received a report via his communicator: one of his father’s companions had reported his whereabouts to the authorities.
At that moment, he truly realized they were no longer of the same world.
For this reason, Jie Ming didn’t linger. He briefly chatted with his parents and siblings, left some gold coins, and returned to the airship to complete the remaining potion dispersal.
As the airship arced through the sky, evenly dispersing the diluted aptitude enhancement potions over the land, Jie Ming’s heart was calm yet complex.
He knew this land would, under the wizard civilization’s transformation, step by step move toward a vastly different future.
Regardless, he was grateful to Mentor Clark for giving him this opportunity.
He had drifted far from this mortal family; his path lay in the depths of the stars, on the far shore of transcendence.