The voting segment had always been the tensest moment of the live show.

The four people on stage remained calm, but the audience held their breath. They seemed even more nervous than the performers themselves, each silently rooting for their favorite.

Only after Gao Yu cast his vote did some murmurs ripple through the crowd.

From a professional mentor’s point of view, Gao Yu's vote was justified. But for the audience, Gu Xingyi and Xia Xiyao’s "For the Rest of Our Lives" resonated much more deeply.

Many people felt disappointed, but no one said anything—Gao Yu’s critique wasn’t wrong.

Although Gu Xingyi had practiced hard for days, his professionalism still fell short compared to Heavenly King Liu.

The second mentor to vote was Xue Xiaoqian. He looked troubled and pondered for quite some time at the mentors' table. Finally, he took a deep breath and looked up at the four on stage.

“My view might differ a little from Mentor Gao Yu’s. I believe songs are a way for people to express emotions, and people find their own points of resonance through music.”

“The reason professional singers can stir the audience is because their performance connects with people emotionally. And tonight, Gu Xingyi and Xia Xiyao clearly did that better!”

“So this time, I’m voting for Xia Xiyao. When a song touches the heart, in my mind, Xia Xiyao and Gu Xingyi have already won!”

After expressing his thoughts in one breath, Xue Xiaoqian let out a long exhale.

Just as a thousand readers will see a thousand Hamlets, a thousand listeners will have a thousand feelings.

Faced with two rare and beautiful songs, Xue Xiaoqian chose to follow his heart.

The score was now tied, 1:1, and the audience held their breath even more tightly. No one could guess how this night would end.

Ironically, the most relaxed people at the moment were the four on stage. In their hearts, they felt that win or lose, they had already done their best—and that was the best answer they could give themselves.

As the saying goes: “Just give it your all, and leave the rest to fate.” That was exactly the mindset of everyone on stage now.

Next was the third mentor, Chen Yixun. He didn’t start with a critique but instead stood up and bowed to the four on stage, then spoke with deep emotion.

“To be honest, I haven’t followed the Chinese music scene for many years. But tonight, I realized I was wrong. It turns out the Chinese music scene isn’t as faded as I thought. Tonight, I witnessed the emergence of two stunning love songs—and the spark between the new generation and the old.”

“If we’re judging purely by the two contestants' performances and the songs, I’d vote for Xia Xiyao. But if we factor in the guest performers, then I’d still choose Miao Anyun and Heavenly King Liu. I agree with Gao Yu—as a professional singer, I naturally lean toward the more technically solid pair.”

“So my vote goes to Miao Anyun.”

As Chen Yixun finished speaking, Gu Xingyi smiled helplessly on stage. As expected, in the end, he had held Xia Xiyao back. Compared to Heavenly King Liu, his singing skills were clearly lacking.

With that vote cast, the score became 2:1. All eyes turned to Liu Ruoying, and the broadcast director zoomed in, giving her a close-up shot at just the right moment.

When the camera zoomed in, everyone suddenly froze.

They saw Liu Ruoying quietly wiping away tears.

As a former queen of love ballads, Liu Ruoying was deeply moved by emotional songs. The beautiful love that Xia Xiyao and Gu Xingyi had conveyed had touched her.

When she realized the camera was already on her, she quickly noticed her slip and wiped her tears again, forcing a small smile onto her face.

“Sorry, I lost my composure. I vote for Xia Xiyao. I don’t have much to say in terms of critique. I just want to say… your song moved me!”

Seeing Liu Ruoying on stage, her face full of genuine emotion, both Xia Xiyao and Gu Xingyi bowed to her at the same time.

Especially Gu Xingyi—when he looked at that familiar face among the mentors, his heart was overwhelmed with emotion. The Liu Ruoying of this world didn’t seem much different from the one in his original world, but her iconic debut song hadn’t appeared yet. He couldn’t help but wonder if it would ever exist in this timeline.

A trace of melancholy rose in Gu Xingyi’s heart. He felt that if that song never came to be, it would be a true loss for this world.

With the four mentors’ votes now concluded, the score stood tied at 2:2.

Next, it was the audience’s turn to weigh in. On the giant screen, the real-time voting opened. All at once, the audience pulled out their phones, anxiously casting their single, precious vote for the contestant they supported.

At that moment, even the barrage of comments in the livestream chats disappeared. Everyone who followed StarSong Gathering quickly tapped the vote button. Voting in StarSong Gathering followed a real-name system—one person, one vote. That meant in this moment, every single vote could determine the final outcome.

For the audience, this was a different kind of war!

Whether their favorite contestant could win depended entirely on them now. Countless people began calling up friends and family, and fan groups across all platforms went into full mobilization mode, urging others to vote.

The fan group "Xia Xiyao ♡ Xingyao ♡ Gu Xingyi Family Chat (1)," which had once been just a small group, had now expanded into five large ones. The long-silent group owner, Xiao Hong, suddenly sprang to life—her phone screen was practically on fire as she furiously rallied everyone to message their relatives and friends, pulling in votes for Xia Xiyao.

Meanwhile, across the internet, a wave of long-dormant accounts came online—middle-aged warriors waging battle with life. They’d received the call too. They were fighting for Heavenly King Liu!

This wasn’t just a clash between two fan bases—it was a showdown between the new generation and the old guard. Between a new king and the reigning one.

On the big screen, the real-time support percentages from both sides were neck and neck, locked in a fierce tug-of-war. The numbers continued to rise, making this round longer and more intense than any in the show's history.

The audience vote had turned into a full-blown stalemate, with both sides constantly overtaking each other.

At that moment, even major media outlets were watching the screen in disbelief.

None of them had expected Gu Xingyi to have this much power. He was actually able to go head-to-head with Heavenly King Liu. Sure, the king was getting older—but he was still a king!

Many of them had assumed Xia Xiyao made a poor choice by inviting Gu Xingyi as her duet partner. But now, this scene was a massive slap in their faces.

When had Gu Xingyi become this popular?

Thinking back, they suddenly realized—somehow, without them even noticing, every hit song in the Chinese music world lately had been written by Gu Xingyi!

This little bastard had silently taken over half the Chinese music scene!

Even though Gu Xingyi had been trending nonstop lately, it was always because of controversies—domestic violence! Challenge fights! Those incidents had quietly buried the brilliance of his music.

Only now were people starting to realize—putting all that aside, the songs they’d been listening to all along… were Gu Xingyi’s!

Terrifying.

Realizing this, media reporters all subconsciously swallowed hard. They suddenly had a chilling realization—something big was shifting in the Chinese music world.

If Gu Xingyi’s recent songs were compiled into an album and released on HuaYin, they didn’t even dare imagine what the charts would look like.

Could one man singlehandedly dominate every chart?

As that thought struck them, they couldn’t help but shift their gaze back to the massive screen above the StarSong Gathering stage.

They all knew—if Xia Xiyao won tonight, it would mark a true turning point in the entertainment industry.