Chapter 147: The Ultimate Checkmate of Blue and White Porcelain!

A traditional-style song was performed by Liu Hongsheng with a melodious and soaring flair.

Although this was not the style he used to sing, his foundational vocal skills were solid enough for him to effortlessly master a cover of a traditional-style track.

As the song ended, the audience responded with thunderous applause.

The applause was even more enthusiastic than the one given to Li Caiwei.

Especially among the older audience members, Liu Hongsheng still held a strong sense of nostalgia.

Once Liu Hongsheng finished his performance, He Hao initiated the post-performance interaction:

"Thank you, Heavenly King Liu, for bringing us such a wonderful traditional-style song. 'A flick of the finger scatters the tenderness of your parting glance'—that line literally gave me goosebumps.

"We have already recorded four episodes of this season's *Voice*, and tonight is the fifth.

"In the previous four episodes, your rankings were very consistent—you placed second every time. Do you think there is a chance to break the second-place curse tonight?"

Liu Hongsheng smiled and replied, "I have a lot of confidence tonight."

He Hao continued to probe, "Does that mean Heavenly King Liu feels you can defeat Fang Xing tonight, am I right?"

Liu Hongsheng thought for a moment before answering, "Fang Xing hasn't performed yet, so it's hard to say. However, regarding the song associated with him earlier, I am still confident."

Judging by the audience's reaction, the applause he received upon finishing was indeed much louder than Li Caiwei's.

Therefore, he still held high hopes.

Moreover, having listened to Li Caiwei's performance of *Life as Summer Flowers*, although it was very good, its live impact simply could not compare to his own *Wutong Night Rain*.

He Hao raised an eyebrow and said, "Caiwei, did you hear that? Heavenly King Liu takes you very seriously."

"Fair competition, fair competition," Liu Hongsheng quickly added to smooth things over.

"All right, next up is the final singer of the evening. Let's first invite Heavenly King Liu to step down and rest."

He Hao began to introduce the final performer:

"I think even without my introduction, the audience and our friends at home already know who the last singer is.

"Among the original lineup of singers, there is only one left who hasn't taken the stage yet.

"And that singer is none other than the one mentioned earlier, the producer who crafted *Life as Summer Flowers* for Singer Number 5.

"Speaking of this singer, it's quite formidable—across all seasons of *Voice* combined, he is the only four-time champion.

"So, who is this singer?

"Let us welcome him to the stage!"

The audience members were already well aware of who the final singer was.

Therefore, as Fang Xing stepped onto the stage against the backlit glow, a synchronized wave of cheers erupted through the venue.

"Fang Xing! Fang Xing! Fang Xing..."

A familiar feeling.

The exact same cheers as last time.

The aura of a four-time champion had already built exceptionally high expectations in the hearts of the audience.

This kind of expectation was a double-edged sword.

If the audience's expectations were high and the performance lived up to them, the feedback from the crowd would be intensely passionate.

However, once the performance failed to meet expectations, the anticipation would shatter, causing the audience's reaction to plummet to the absolute bottom.

The audience was simply too enthusiastic.

He Hao had to gesture for quiet, saying, "My friends in the audience, the final singer has felt your passion.

"Next up is the pre-performance Q&A session. Shall we ask Fang Xing a few questions?"

The audience slowly began to quiet down.

He Hao glanced at his cue card and asked, "The audience has extremely high expectations for you. Are you feeling even the slightest bit nervous this time?"

"Not really," Fang Xing replied in an ordinary tone.

"Really not nervous at all? You must know that as the first four-time champion on the *Voice* stage, the audience's expectations of you are extraordinarily high. If your performance is even slightly mediocre, the audience might just be dissatisfied," He Hao continued, trying to stir up the atmosphere.

"It might be mediocre in the future, but not tonight," Fang Xing replied with a smile.

"So confident? You should know that tonight's performance theme is widely acknowledged as extremely difficult," He Hao pressed further.

"Tonight's song... honestly, even I think it's a bit much," Fang Xing said.

"Really? Is it a song that conforms to the five-tone scale of 'Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, Yu'?" He Hao followed up.

"Of course."

"You are the last singer to appear, and most of the singers before you performed traditional-style songs. So, is the song you're going to perform tonight also a traditional-style song?" He Hao asked.

"I like to compete with other singers in the same category; that's what makes it interesting," Fang Xing smiled and confirmed.

"So, tonight's final song will be a traditional-style piece that adheres to the 'Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, Yu' pentatonic scale. My friends in the audience, are you looking forward to it?" He Hao asked loudly.

The audience's anticipation was successfully ignited, and they shouted back in unison, "Yes!"

The audience was indeed passionate, but He Hao had raised their expectations to such a dizzying height that failing to deliver would result in catastrophic consequences.

The singers watching from the lounge could clearly feel the tense atmosphere.

Since the singers who had already performed rested together in the main lounge without being separated, the three female singers naturally gathered and began chatting idly.

"Teacher He has pushed the audience's expectations way too high. If it were me, I'd probably be too nervous to even make a sound," Shen Xiyin patted her chest, imagining herself standing on that stage right now, and found it terrifying.

Li Caiwei also nodded in agreement, "Yeah, excessively high expectations aren't necessarily a good thing. I'm really sweating for him."

Xu Xingru joined the conversation, "Caiwei, aren't you from the same company as Fang Xing? What kind of song did he prepare? You must know. Even the song you sang was prepared by him."

Li Caiwei shook her head and replied, "I really don't know. I felt like I barely had enough time practicing my own songs these past few days. Besides, I couldn't be of any help with Fang Xing's song anyway, so I'm not really clear on it."

Shen Xiyin teased, "No way, Sister Caiwei must know some inside information. Do tell."

In truth, Li Caiwei wasn't completely in the dark.

She had heard from Qiao Yinghong that Fang Xing intended to fight for first place once again this time, which was why the song he prepared was exceptionally powerful.

However, she couldn't possibly tell the other singers present: Fang Xing's song is super strong and he's aiming for first place.

If she said that, regardless of whether Fang Xing won first place or not, she would only be causing trouble.

Therefore, she still shook her head and said, "I only heard it's a traditional-style song, but I haven't heard the actual track. Tonight will be my first time hearing it too. Come to think of it, I'm looking forward to it as well."

...

On the stage.

He Hao asked his final question, "Since we've talked this far, the audience is already too impatient to wait, so let's stop stalling. Tell the audience loudly: what is the title of the song you will be performing tonight?"

Fang Xing paused for two full seconds before slowly uttering the words, "The song is *Blue and White Porcelain*."

Songs conforming to the pentatonic scale of 'Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, Yu' actually made up a very small proportion of pop music, but among them, a few absolute blockbuster trump cards were terrifyingly powerful.

Boboli's endorsement had been snatched away, and moreover, right after Liu Hongsheng won second place on *Voice*, they turned around the very next day and lowered the price to snatch the endorsement deal.

With that kind of business conduct, no matter how good-natured Fang Xing was, he kept it in mind.

Since *Voice* happened to be the most professionally rigorous music variety show in the country, Fang Xing decided not to play tricks and pulled out a nuclear-grade trump card directly.

*Blue and White Porcelain* had lyrics written by Vincent Fang, arrangement by Zhong Xingmin, and was composed and performed by Jay Chou. It was featured on Jay Chou's album *I'm Very Busy*.

This song swept through all the major award ceremonies of that year, capturing the three highest-value accolades: Song of the Year, Best Lyricist of the Year, and Best Composer of the Year.

Vincent Fang's lyrics, Jay Chou's melody, coupled with Zhong Xingmin's arrangement—

Every single one of them was an industry titan, pouring their hearts into creating this quintessential Chinese-style masterpiece.

One could say that *Blue and White Porcelain* was the absolute ceiling of Chinese-style pop songs on Earth.

The artistic conception and poetic charm of its lyrics and melody deserved to be meticulously savored and analyzed.

After Fang Xing announced the title of the song, the lights on the stage dimmed.

Every time this lighting effect appeared, the audience knew the performance was about to begin; they immediately quieted down, held their breath, and listened intently.

Fang Xing took a deep breath, adjusted his emotions, turned his head toward the band, and signaled that they could begin.

A single pluck of a guzheng echoed out, and the prelude began.

The fresh and lingering melody instantly pulled the audience into a beautiful, ancient-style rhythm.

As soon as the prelude started, the exact same feeling arose in the hearts of the audience: another prelude kill!

Fang Xing had already performed several songs that possessed this kind of lethal charm.

Once the prelude began, the music alone was enough to intoxicate listeners.

It instantly drew the audience into that exquisitely delicate and refined artistic realm, truly a textbook example of classical aesthetics.

Just from the prelude alone, the audience members couldn't help but want to applaud, though after clapping twice, they quickly stopped themselves.

Within the melody, apart from the guzheng, the addition of the bamboo flute, violin, cello, jazz drums, and guitar brought out the gentle, classical beauty to the absolute maximum.

Following the rhythm of the strings, Fang Xing's state of mind settled as he slowly picked up the microphone and began to sing:

"Plain bisque outlines the blue and white, the brushstroke turns from thick to light,
The peony painted on the body resembles your initial makeup,
Wafting sandalwood smoke drifts through the window, I understand your heavy heart,
My brush moves across the rice paper, stopping halfway..."

After just four lines, the audience couldn't help but draw a sharp breath, concentrating their focus to listen intently, terrified of missing even a single word.

Some audience members were already shaking their heads in quiet wonder, praising inwardly: Absolutely breathtaking!

Not only the audience at the venue, but the singers who had finished their performances and gathered in the lounge were struck with shock.

The more professional a singer was, the clearer they could hear the terrifying brilliance hidden within this melody.

The moment Liu Hongsheng heard the prelude of this song, the smile on his face instantly vanished.

Following that, as the four lines of the main verse were sung, his expression continued to sink, as if the surrounding temperature had dropped right along with it.

From the prelude alone, he knew the song's composition was outrageously strong.

Upon hearing the four lines of the verse, he realized the lyrics were just as terrifying as the melody.

Not to mention, the arrangement also set off the first half of the song with a lingering classical charm.

Therefore, after Fang Xing had sung merely four lines, an ominous premonition arose in Liu Hongsheng's heart.

Unless Fang Xing messed up later on, as long as the current quality of the song was maintained, it would be another invincible track.

This time, Liu Hongsheng had abandoned Puxiang and instead hired another record company specializing in traditional-style songs to rearrange *Wutong Night Rain*.

When this song was first completed, he listened to the mixed demo and felt immensely happy inside.

Because the quality of this song was exceptionally high.

Both the lyrics and the melody possessed championship-winning potential, and he was confident in his vocal abilities.

As long as nothing unexpected happened, he was aiming for first place tonight.

The audience's reaction during his own performance had also validated his perspective.

The song *Wutong Night Rain* was very strong.

However, the moment he heard *Blue and White Porcelain*, he knew in his heart that things were going badly.

Yet, right now, he had no other recourse except to pray for Fang Xing to make a mistake.

...

On the stage.

Using a voice brimming with classical charm, Fang Xing interpreted the artistic conception of the song and sang that most classic chorus:

"The azure color waits for the rain while I am waiting for you,
Cooking smoke rises in wisps miles across the river,
In official script upon the base of the vase, I imitate the elegance of bygone dynasties,
Just take it that I laid the groundwork to meet you..."

If the main verse had already left people full of praise, the arrival of the chorus felt as though the audience's souls had been lifted and carried away by the singing.

Those in the audience who understood the connection between "azure waits for the rain" and blue-and-white porcelain praised the lyrics even more fervently.

In ancient times, the most superior color for Ru kiln porcelain was azure blue.

Only the most flawless azure could interpret the ultimate perfection of porcelain.

However, firing such a beautiful azure hue was extraordinarily difficult.

Because that was not something human effort alone could achieve; it required looking to the heavens to see if fortune favored them.

The most magnificent azure blue could only be fired under a specific level of humidity.

Yet in ancient times, porcelain-firing technology could not precisely control atmospheric humidity.

Consequently, wishing to fire an azure piece meant waiting for a misty, rainy day and leaving it to luck, with a very low success rate.

Because of this, every piece of azure porcelain passed down through history was a priceless treasure.

Countless ceramic artisans' blood and sweat were condensed within it; they might go years or even decades without encountering a single misty rainy day with the right azure hue.

It wasn't just the audience that was immersed in the singing.

The three female singers gathered in the lounge wore faces filled with pure admiration.

Shen Xiyin involuntarily shook her head in awe, "Why does Fang Xing feel more and more terrifying? Tonight's song... I'm afraid no other traditional-style song in the entire music industry would dare claim to be better than this *Blue and White Porcelain*."

Li Caiwei was likewise filled with boundless admiration in her heart.

Among the singers present, she was the closest to Fang Xing.

She also understood Fang Xing the best; even so, upon hearing *Blue and White Porcelain*, she was equally astonished.

Earlier, when discussing song selection, she had even worried that her request to sing *Life as Summer Flowers* might disrupt Fang Xing's choice of track.

At that time, Fang Xing had said he prepared a trump card.

Li Caiwei had initially thought that was just another song he picked after giving *Life as Summer Flowers* to her.

Now, hearing *Blue and White Porcelain*, she knew what Fang Xing said back then was true and not just an attempt to comfort her.

Once this song was sung, there was simply no reason for it not to take first place, and not even Liu Hongsheng could block it.

Furthermore, she grew more and more astonished by the resonance of Fang Xing's vocal technique.

Back during *Tomorrow's Star*, she and Fang Xing had collaborated on *Red Ling*, and back then Fang Xing was already very strong, but at that time she still felt confident enough to trade vocal blows with him on stage without falling behind.

However, she no longer possessed that confidence now.

The chest resonance and the utilization of mixed voice when Fang Xing sang the chorus pushed the beauty of the song to its absolute limit.

Even Xu Xingru beside her wore a peculiar expression, alternating between wide-eyed amazement and furrowed brows.

She had made her name through traditional-style songs and was hailed by netizens as the Goddess of Traditional Style.

She had performed many immensely popular traditional-style songs, but none of them could compare to this *Blue and White Porcelain*.

That was how terrifying it was.

As a top-tier female singer in the country renowned for traditional-style music, she had actually been utterly conquered by someone else's traditional-style song.

She was genuinely won over.

In fact, she had heard *Fireworks Are Cool*, which Fang Xing sang on *Tomorrow's Star*.

That song was also exceptionally powerful.

However, Fang Xing's vocal prowess back then wasn't as strong as it was now.

Moreover, *Fireworks Are Cool* wasn't sung by Fang Xing alone; the uneven vocal abilities of his teammates meant that the song had structural shortcomings.

Yet this *Blue and White Porcelain* had completely subdued her.

She even felt a trace of envy.

A thought crossed her mind: if she were the one singing *Blue and White Porcelain*, she might be able to transcend the ranks of first-tier singers and become the Queen of Traditional Style.

Unfortunately, she could only sigh inwardly now.

...

On the stage.

Following the interlude, Fang Xing began to sing the second verse:

"White porcelain and blue flowers, a koi leaps vividly at the bottom of the bowl,
While copying the Song Dynasty script for the signature, I find myself missing you,
You remain hidden within the millennia-old secret of the kiln-firing,
So delicate, resembling an embroidery needle dropping onto the floor..."

The lyrics of the second verse differed from the first, yet the artistic conception remained equally ethereal and delicate.

The audience began clasping their hands together, holding them against their chests as they quietly listened, savoring this audiovisual feast.

This was the best-sounding song they had heard tonight; it was quite literally a god-tier live performance.

Every single note of the melody Fang Xing sang was as accurate as if nailed onto a musical staff; there was no need for any pitch correction whatsoever. His live singing was as exquisitely flawless as playing a CD.

In the singers' lounge, Shen Xiyin raised both hands in a bowing gesture and praised admiringly, "I bow to you, prostrated in utter admiration."

Xie Yuwen shook his head and sighed, "Looks like we're looking at a five-consecutive championship run..."

Hearing those words, Liu Hongsheng's expression froze even further.

The lingering classical melody continued to play, finally reaching the climax of the final chorus:

"The azure color waits for the rain while I am waiting for you,
Moonlight is scooped up and the ending spreads wide,
Like handed-down blue and white porcelain, beautiful of its own accord,
Your eyes carry a smile..."

The song transitioned into the outro, and even the notes of theoutro were lingering and melodious.

When the final musical note faded away, the audience still felt unsatisfied, sitting quietly in hope that there might be just one more line.

However, the song had reached its perfect conclusion right here.

Fang Xing slowly lowered the microphone, waited a moment for his emotions to detach from the song's realm, then pressed a hand to his chest, turned toward the band, and bowed in gratitude.

The band members nodded in response.

They too had been conquered by this song, thinking to themselves that being part of such a performance was deeply fulfilling.

After another brief moment, a single audience member took the lead in applauding, and instantly the entire venue followed suit.

Thunderous applause echoed through the broadcasting hall, refusing to fade for a long time.

While clapping, the audience cheered in unison: "One more song! That was amazing!"

However, this was the competitive stage of *Voice*, not a concert, and there would be no encore.

After his performance, Fang Xing thanked the audience, turned around to step off the stage to rest, and awaited the final ranking results.