This season of StarSong Gathering had become the most popular in history. At this moment, it wasn’t just the audience watching—every eye in the entire entertainment industry was focused on it.

Shengshi Entertainment, Yinhai Entertainment, Tianmei Entertainment, and countless large and small entertainment companies all had their executives gathered in meeting rooms at this very hour.

What the media had begun to sense—how could the companies possibly have missed it? They had already held a meeting once before, but back then, few believed that Gu Xingyi had the power to shift the tides of the entertainment industry.

But now, things were different. Gu Xingyi’s terrifying popularity on StarSong Gathering was sending a clear message: he was already close to the level of a Heavenly King. While his resume was still lacking, his fanbase had reached massive scale. Compared to a Heavenly King, perhaps all he lacked… was one defining moment.

Since the gradual retirement of the Four Heavenly Kings in the Hua country’s entertainment industry, no one had commanded such popularity. Gu Xingyi was the first. And the most ironic part? He wasn’t even officially considered someone from within the industry.

A man who had always been on the fringes of showbiz, yet had managed to amass such popularity—that was the scariest part!

Inside the Yinhai Entertainment meeting room, the upper management sat with rapt attention, eyes fixed on the big screen broadcasting the StarSong Gathering live.

The director’s camera happened to shift to Gu Xingyi. Even Yang Xian, whose eyes had been calm until now, showed a flicker of emotion. He still remembered clearly how not long ago, Gu Xingyi had marched into Modu alone, asking him for a top-tier contract that had seemed impossible at the time.

Back then, Yang Xian thought of Gu Xingyi as a talented, bold, and capable young man. But he never imagined that just two months later, the trending lists would be like his personal playground—enter whenever he pleased. The Chinese music scene had fallen under this man’s control, and all the hottest songs recently… were his!

Yang Xian took a deep breath, unsure if he should feel happy or worried. “The taller the tree, the more wind it catches.” After all this, life wouldn’t be easy for Xia Xiyao and Gu Xingyi. Even within his own company, murmurs were beginning to rise.

The pie was only so big. If you wanted to eat the whole thing—what were the others supposed to do?

Yang Xian’s gaze flickered. As he stared at the screen, his fingers unconsciously tapped against the table.

But if anyone’s feelings were more complicated than Yang Xian’s, it was Yang Chenglin, who sat below.

The once proud onee-san had noticeably thinned. Her eyes lingered on Gu Xingyi on the big screen, filled with a complex mix of emotions.

After that last phone call, she hadn’t contacted him again. Being the perceptive woman she was, she’d clearly heard the intentional distance in Gu Xingyi’s voice.

Over time, she’d come to understand her own feelings. She admitted it—she did admire Gu Xingyi. Maybe it started the first time she received him. Maybe it was when he sang “Only Ordinary” in the office. She didn’t know when it happened, but at some point, Gu Xingyi had made her heart flutter.

After all, a man with talent and charm like that—it was hard not to notice. She wasn’t immune to that.

But she also knew that Gu Xingyi belonged to Xia Xiyao. So she never reached out again and even started avoiding any news about him.

Now, seeing Gu Xingyi again, he was more dazzling than ever, more captivating than before. His relationship with Xia Xiyao had clearly grown even deeper.

Yang Chenglin lowered her head and gave a bitter smile. She didn’t dare look anymore. She didn’t even understand herself—why had she fallen for someone who was already taken?

All she could say was: “Love doesn’t ask why. Once it starts, it runs deep.”

At that moment in Shengshi Entertainment, just like in Yinhai, all upper management were gathered in the meeting room. Seated at the head was none other than Shengshi’s chairman—Tian Xingchi.

Compared to Yinhai’s tense atmosphere, Shengshi’s meeting room was clearly more relaxed. Tian Xingchi’s chubby cheeks jiggled along with his hearty chuckles.

Tian Xingchi chuckled as he adjusted the round, gold-rimmed glasses on his nose.

“Now this is interesting! A Gu Xingyi comes along and stirs up the dead pond that was the music industry. It’s great! Besides, I don’t even focus on music—film and television are the real foundations of our company’s fortune! Hahaha!”

The upper management in the room burst into laughter at his words. A board member seated on Tian Xingchi’s left immediately chimed in flatteringly.

“It’s all thanks to Chairman Tian’s brilliant strategy. Bringing out a Heavenly King let everyone clearly see Gu Xingyi’s strength. Even if he loses, there’s no real loss—it just gives the other companies a headache. And if he wins, then it’s our Shengshi Entertainment’s Miao Anyun who takes the victory. Either way, we win!”

“Haha! Win, and everyone’s happy. Lose, and we still profit a little. Brilliant move!”

Tian Xingchi’s shrewd, beady eyes twinkled as he gave the board member beside him an approving look.

Flattery always works—Tian Xingchi was absolutely pleased.

Gu Xingyi might earn a small gain, but Tian Xingchi would never suffer a loss!

Meanwhile, the most miserable of all was Tianmei Entertainment. With both of their dark horse contestants eliminated from StarSong Gathering, they’d assumed they were out of the spotlight.

But now—disaster had arrived uninvited!

Gu Xingyi alone had thrown everything into chaos. Just thinking about how he might dominate the music charts from now on with his compositions left everyone at Tianmei feeling smothered.

In Tianmei’s meeting room, the atmosphere was funereal. Chairman Liu Gao wore a dark, stormy expression.

“Can someone tell me—what’s the deal with Liu Qian? And where the hell did this Gu Xingyi come from? A married woman who’s been out of the industry for two years gets single-handedly launched back to the top by him?!”

Liu Gao was mentally exhausted. He’d been abroad negotiating projects for a while and hadn’t paid much attention to the domestic scene. Who would’ve thought that in just this short time away, someone was practically stealing his entire house?

The executives looked at each other in confusion. Who knew where this freak of a guy had come from?

All they knew was—those songs really were just that good.

Seeing everyone sit there silent and dumbfounded, Liu Gao’s anger surged. Useless teammates, the lot of them! All they cared about was living lavishly with no crisis awareness at all!

“Right now! Immediately! I want the entire backstory of this situation fully investigated! No one leaves until we get to the bottom of this!”

“And another thing! Contact the paid commenters! I don’t care how much it costs—Miao Anyun and Heavenly King Liu must win this round! We can’t let Gu Xingyi gain the reputation of being the next potential Heavenly King. We have to minimize his influence as much as possible!”

“And also! Send someone to reach out to Gu Xingyi tomorrow. Feel him out. Say we’re looking to commission a song!”

Liu Gao let it all out in one breath, then turned back to the big screen. Staring at Gu Xingyi’s smiling face, the more he looked, the more it grated on him.

Aside from the three industry giants, the mid-sized and smaller entertainment companies had also started making their moves. Some chose to cozy up to Gu Xingyi, releasing signals of goodwill. Others, like Yinhai Entertainment, chose to suppress his rise before it could fully take off.

In an instant, the entire entertainment industry was churning with undercurrents.

Yet ironically, the calmest place of all was the StarSong Gathering venue itself.

The venue was utterly silent. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the massive screen showing the live voting percentages. No one even dared to breathe.

Because at this moment—unbelievably—the support rates for both sides were exactly tied.

It was absurd!