Confessing Without Being Asked

The spectator stands at the competition venue were still buzzing with voices.

The chief judge glanced at the workstation before him, his voice still carrying lingering shock. "Pull up the registration information for the contestant at this workstation immediately."

The proctor responsible for this section hurried forward, picked up the terminal screen, retrieved the information, and displayed it before the chief judge.

"I... I checked earlier. The contestant registered at this workstation is named Zhou Mingxuan, from Linshui City. He only obtained his apprentice pharmacist certificate six months ago, and he's never even made it into the finals of a county-level competition before."

At these words, everyone nearby frowned.

The chief judge said nothing and looked at the terminal screen.

The information on the screen was clear and straightforward.

Zhou Mingxuan, seventeen years old, currently attending Linshui City No. 3 Middle School. His apprentice pharmacist certification exam score had barely cleared the passing mark.

No record of potion development or competition awards.

In public settings, his success rate in refining basic qi and blood powder was recorded as only 62%.

"How is this possible?" An elderly pharmacist shook his head repeatedly as he studied the figures. "I've toiled bitterly in the art of potions for over fifty years, and I don't believe even I could manage such a method of refining a Primordial Qi and Blood Potion. How could a student who can't even reliably refine basic qi and blood powder possibly do it?"

For a moment, the spectators in the stands erupted into an uproar as well.

"Holy shit! He only got his apprentice certificate six months ago? And he scored full marks? Isn't that bullshit?"

"A stand-in, right? Definitely a stand-in! But if you're caught taking an exam for someone else, you get banned for life, and it goes on your martial arts record too. Has this genius gone mad?"

"Mad, my ass! You don't know shit. With his abilities, would he even care about official competitions?"

"The officials couldn't possibly ban him either. What competition wouldn't be scrambling to get a genius like that to participate?"

"Heh! When a genius stands in for someone, can you even call it cheating? That's just a true master keeping his abilities hidden and maintaining a low profile."

"..."

The chief judge ignored the discussion in the stands. Using the information stored in the terminal, he called Zhou Mingxuan and switched on the speakerphone.

The phone rang several times before someone answered. A boy's impatient voice came through, accompanied by the background sounds of a game. "Hello? Who's this?"

"Hello, this is the judging committee for the Six-City Young Pharmacists Competition. We're looking for Zhou Mingxuan," the chief judge said with a slight frown.

Things immediately changed on the other end. The game sounds vanished, and a flustered voice came through. "I... I'm Zhou Mingxuan. Wh-what do you want with me? I didn't have anyone take the exam for me! I didn't! I just lost my identification. Someone must have picked it up and used it to take the exam. I don't know anything about it."

His words sent laughter sweeping through the venue.

The chief judge had not even asked about a stand-in yet, and Zhou Mingxuan had already offered a whole string of excuses.

Wasn't that as good as confessing without being asked?

The chief judge's frown deepened, but he did not expose the lie. He merely followed up on the boy's words. "Oh? You lost your identification? Then the contestant who refined a Beyond-Perfect-Grade Primordial Qi and Blood Potion at workstation seventeen this morning and earned a perfect score wasn't you?"

The other end fell silent for two seconds. Then his voice rose in a startled cry. "Full... full marks? First place?!"

Immediately afterward, Zhou Mingxuan's tone changed, carrying a forced composure. "Ah... yes, that was me! I refined it! Something urgent suddenly came up at home after I finished, so I left early. I'm really sorry."

The laughter in the stands grew louder. Even several elderly pharmacists on the judging panel could not help shaking their heads, their faces utterly speechless.

The chief judge stopped beating around the bush. "Since it was you, please return to the venue immediately. We'll arrange an on-site reassessment for you. As long as you can refine another Primordial Qi and Blood Potion of the same quality, the championship of this competition will be yours."

The other end immediately went silent again.

Only after a long while did a voice on the verge of tears come through. "I... I'm not... I didn't refine that... I really lost my identification. I never even entered the venue. I don't know who took my identification..."

The chief judge asked a few more questions, but Zhou Mingxuan merely repeated the same thing over and over, stubbornly insisting that he had lost his identification and not daring to mention the stand-in.

Seeing this, the chief judge stopped pressing him and hung up.

The proctor stepped forward, recalling what had happened earlier. "Esteemed judges, this mysterious contestant... had a black mask on from the moment he entered.

"At the time, I thought it was to prevent him from breathing in irritating fumes while refining potions. Looking back now, he never intended to reveal his identity from the start.

"He wanted to leave as soon as he came in. I stopped him to verify his identity and made him stay in the venue... I thought he was just here to join the fun. I never imagined..."

Hearing this, the representative of a trading company nearby sighed and picked up the thread. "This mysterious genius was probably displeased when you stopped him to check his identity, so he deliberately left as soon as he finished refining, not even bothering to claim a placing. At his level, he simply doesn't care about the prestige of this competition."

At these words, the proctor's face went white.

A genius capable of refining a Beyond-Perfect-Grade Primordial Qi and Blood Potion was certain to stand at the pinnacle of the six cities' potion world in the future.

Yet he had not only treated this genius as an attention-seeking clown, but had even blocked him from leaving the venue?

If the man held a grudge, how was he supposed to get by in potion circles in the future?

"I... I was just following procedure..." he muttered, his face nearly shriveling into a bitter melon, feeling terribly wronged.

Su Mo watched the farce from nearby without saying a word.

Uncle Fu leaned close to him and asked quietly, "Young master, about Mr. Lin's real name, should we..."

Before he could finish, Su Mo shook his head and said softly, "Since he doesn't want to say it, we mustn't say it either. A genius of this caliber is certain to become a major figure in the entire Dragon Nation's potion world. Even if we can't befriend him, we absolutely must not offend him."

At this, Uncle Fu's eyes filled with approval.

Naturally, he knew they could not say anything, but he had worried that young master Su Mo might not be able to resist blurting it out. That was why he had deliberately posed the question to gauge the young master's intentions.

His young master was only fifteen. Having such thoughtfulness and a sense of propriety was truly commendable.

Just then, after a brief, quiet discussion with the judging panel, the chief judge picked up the microphone and addressed the venue. "Following deliberation by the judging panel, contestant Su Mo of Qingyang City has produced a potion that meets the standard for full marks. We therefore propose naming him champion of this Six-City Young Pharmacists Competition..."

Before he finished, Su Mo suddenly stepped forward and took the microphone offered by a staff member beside him.

The entire venue instantly fell silent, every gaze gathering on him.

"Thank you to all the esteemed judges for your recognition." Su Mo showed none of a youth's stage fright as he declared loudly, "But I cannot accept this championship. This anonymous contestant's potion far surpassed mine in every measured statistic. His standard is undoubtedly above mine.

"Furthermore, I used three standard portions of medicinal ingredients to refine two standard-dose bottles of Primordial Qi and Blood Potion. This contestant, however, used only two standard portions of medicinal ingredients to refine two finished bottles with zero loss. That, too, is far beyond what I can match."

He raised his eyes toward the judging panel, his tone earnest. "In the art of potions, those with greater attainment take precedence. This contestant is the rightful first-place winner of this competition. I cannot claim that title."