On the stage, the production team used special effects for once—an ocean of flowers bloomed into existence. Bathed in this sea of blossoms, Xia Xiyao slowly walked forward.

Seeing this, the audience closed their eyes. Accompanied by the music, it felt as though they were basking in sunlight amid a field of flowers, mind and body at ease.

In their hearts, they all sighed in amazement.

That bastard Gu Xingyi! Just the intro of this song was enough to pull them under!

They didn’t even need to hear the lyrics—just the prelude alone had already blown away the two songs from the earlier competition rounds.

Xia Xiyao’s lashes fluttered slightly, and the hand holding the mic was a little tense.

This song was harder than anything before. She had practiced it for a long, long time. And in her heart, this song was better than all the others. She had no idea how Gu Xingyi’s brain even worked to come up with something like this.

All she could do was give it her best—to live up to the song. Xia Xiyao steadied her nerves and gently began to sing.

    “All blossoms have come to a still,
    Love so clear now feels so far.
    The sky is gloomy, but love is fond.
    Back then, I didn’t know—this was love.”

Her voice was soft and tender. At that moment, every audience member who had closed their eyes fell deeper into the world of the music. Their hearts filled with a bittersweet mix of sorrow and joy.

The sorrow was in the melody.
The joy came from memories.
Contradictory, yet not.

    “You liked to stand at that windowsill.
    It’s been so long since you’ve come.
    The colorful time is stained blank—
    Blurred by the tears you shed.”

Hearing this line, the audience’s hearts jolted. In their minds, the field of flowers suddenly faded to white. And in that hazy void, a gentle rain began to fall from the sky.

They stood silently beneath the drizzle, waiting for the end.

At that moment, Xia Xiyao’s gaze turned resolute. She lifted the mic, her eyes seemingly piercing through space and time—landing on the figure of Gu Xingyi.

And her voice followed suit.

    “Don’t go away, no distance can divide!
    My longing turns to sea, can’t enter from outside!
    Forgive my words too quick, love became the line—
    That kite in my hands, let go too fast, can’t reel back in time!”

With each line she sang, Xia Xiyao took a small step forward. Her voice felt like it cut through space and time, entering the hearts of the audience—and Gu Xingyi’s heart too.

Gu Xingyi watched her move step by step to the very front of the stage, his eyes brimming with tenderness.

The mentors all held their breath, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Especially Ran Xiaoxiao—she was beginning to wonder if she had misjudged things. If she didn’t vote for this song, wouldn’t she be cursed to death!?

This god-tier song… she honestly thought it was the best one yet. No contest.

Xia Xiyao kept singing, slowly raising her hand and waving it.

The audience opened their eyes and began waving along. They had been so stunned by the performance that they couldn’t keep their eyes closed any longer. All they could see was Xia Xiyao on stage, waving her hand like a fluttering blossom.

Backstage, Ren Chao clutched his chest, afraid his heart might suddenly leap out.

Holy crap! Is this even a competition?

This is clearly a solo concert! A pure personal showcase!

    “Don’t go away, memories can’t erase!
    The love I owe you, I’m waiting to repay!
    The sky still shines, and it loves the sea!
    The love song lost, love no longer remains~”

With that perfect ending, Xia Xiyao gave the song a soul in this world. Gu Xingyi couldn’t help but raise Xiao Nainai’s little hand and start clapping.

Xia Xiyao sang beautifully!

Now even Lao Zhou could rest easy, right? He hadn’t let the song be buried in this world after all.

As the melody and vocals faded away, Xia Xiyao exhaled lightly. Her cheeks were slightly flushed.

She didn’t even realize she had been completely drawn into the song just now—she had even started waving her hand along with it!

So embarrassing!

The venue erupted into thunderous applause—wave after wave, as if it would never stop. It was more enthusiastic and long-lasting than any performance before.

This was the audience’s recognition of the song Sea of Flowers!

Especially in the livestream chat—Gu Xingyi wanted to turn off the comments, but he couldn’t bear to. These bastards were all complimenting him and his wife!

    “I’ve never heard such a beautiful song before! Especially the prelude! Absolutely legendary!”
    “The moment that intro hit, I was pulled in! This is the first time I’ve ever felt this way! It’s amazing!”
    “The lyrics are great too! But damn it, are we going to have to keep recording this in crappy audio quality again? When’s the official release with copyright going to drop, huh?”
    “Damn! Xingyao’s songs just keep getting more soul-gripping with each release—I’m done for!”
    “We still have to wait until StarSong Gathering ends before the album comes out? I’m starting to lose patience! Hurry up and finish the show already!”
    “Hey you up there, don’t jinx it! Think about how many more songs Xingyao might still drop. Hold on a little longer!”
    “Sh*t! When you put it that way… you’ve got a point!”

On stage, the mentors—especially Xue Xiaoqian—were clutching at their chests. He couldn’t vote for this song, and it hurt!

Too bad he came here with a mission… How did this gut-wrenching task end up falling on him?

It sucked! He wanted to cry!

Meanwhile, backstage, Cheng Di had stars in her eyes.

As expected of Gu Xingyi—this song was amazing! And Xia Xiyao too—her singing was phenomenal!

Wuwuwu! From now on, both of them were her idols!

One song completely conquered Cheng Di’s ears. She had already liked Gu Xingyi’s music, but now, even Xia Xiyao’s singing had made her a fan!

She felt like the song she was about to perform didn’t even compare to half of Sea of Flowers.

And yet that guy still dared to call himself the Godfather of Music? Please!

Cheng Di had never been that into Wu Fan’s songs anyway. If it hadn’t been for Yin Ping insisting, she wouldn’t have picked his song at all.

By now, Xia Xiyao had come down from the stage, walking right toward Cheng Di.

The two exchanged friendly nods, and Xia Xiyao even raised a little fist in a gesture of encouragement.

That made Cheng Di like her even more!

They shared a smile, and then the host’s voice sounded once again—it was Cheng Di’s turn to perform.

She sang a sweet, bubbly love song. Her sugary voice eased away some of the gentle sadness left lingering from Xia Xiyao’s earlier song. This kind of sweet girl-next-door style won over tons of male fans online.

When she finished, the live audience responded with decent applause—but it clearly couldn’t compare to the roaring ovation Xia Xiyao received during Sea of Flowers.

To the audience, Cheng Di’s song just felt kind of ordinary. Mainly because that bastard Gu Xingyi had raised their standards. Heck, he’d raised the bar for the entire Hua music scene!

If this had been released before, her song might’ve taken the nation by storm—but now? It was bottom-tier.

Then came the voting round. The first mentor to vote was Gao Yu. After briefly commenting on both songs, he unsurprisingly gave his vote to Xia Xiyao.

Next was Xue Xiaoqian. He looked visibly conflicted. He openly praised Xia Xiyao’s song, but when it came time to vote—he gave his to Cheng Di.

The audience all knowingly smiled. That was clearly a sympathy vote!

Just like last time, when Shao Feibai also got a sympathy vote.

But what happened next caught everyone off guard—including Xue Xiaoqian, and especially Cheng Di.

No one expected Wang Bing… to also vote for Cheng Di.

Xue Xiaoqian’s face turned even darker. Cheng Di’s eyes widened in disbelief.

In an instant, the venue went dead silent.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the final mentor—Ran Xiaoxiao!

Her vote… was now the deciding vote!