A minute later, the matchups were finalized on the big screen.

Match 1: Lian Del (Sili’s Team) vs. Julie (Su San’s Team)

Match 2: Tai Xingwen (Su San’s Team) vs. Qi Huaixuan (Jiang Qin’s Team)

Match 3: Heimu Ying (Ophina’s Team) vs. Li Yapa (Josh’s Team)

Match 4: Xiong Yuanyuan (Jiang Qin’s Team) vs. Imai Reiko (Ophina’s Team)

Match 5: Tran Meyer (Su San’s Team) vs. Li Yuanhui (Sili’s Team)

Match 6: Tang Wanqing (Jiang Qin’s Team) vs. Liu Junxi (Josh’s Team)

Match 7: Sun Dongling (Josh’s Team) vs. Huang Qianliu (Ophina’s Team)

The remaining male contestant from Sili’s team, Ye Jing, received a bye.

Soon, the first match began. Lian Del went on stage first, followed by Julie.

After they each performed two energetic songs that included rap, it was time for the voting.

Two progress bars appeared on the holographic screens behind them, and Julie’s vote count was clearly pulling far ahead of Lian Del’s.

After all, she had gained a lot of fans during the team competition, and now those fans were mobilizing.

The result was a foregone conclusion. Julie won with a significant lead.

Tai Xingwen went up first for the second match. He performed a lyrical English ballad, and with his refined features, he looked every bit the elegant prince.

[It’s a foreign language song, we’re saved!]

[You all misjudged our Su San earlier. If she really wanted to sideline her two male trainees, she never would have prepared such a high-quality song for him.]

[Such an atmospheric song.]

[Is it just me? Or does this feel a little like...]

[To the person above, you’re not wrong. It’s a copy of our Qin Bao’s style, you can even see the seams where they patched it together.]

[Our Su San composed this herself. What does it have to do with your Jiang Qin? Can you stop spreading baseless rumors?]

[Just you wait! I’m going to make a comparison video to prove you all wrong!]

[We’ll be waiting. Let’s hope you don’t ghost us.]

[Is it so hard to admit another composer is talented?]

...

While the livestream chat was still arguing, Qi Huaixuan took the stage.

He wore a simple white shirt with the top three buttons undone, paired with black dress pants.

His choppy, Klein blue-highlighted hair was dusted with glitter that shone brilliantly under the spotlights.

On stage, Qi Huaixuan was like a different person.

Offstage, he was a goofy and somewhat awkward young man, but on stage, he was composed and completely at ease.

"I kept on giving

Until our feelings fell into conflict

Only then did I come to understand

The endless ups and downs of love..."

The unique instrumental track seemed to pan from the left ear to the right.

Suddenly, smoke billowed across the stage as a light rain began to fall. Droplets soaked Qi Huaixuan’s hair and face, drenching his white shirt.

"I’m not your Burden

You say you have it so hard

I carry the blame you laid on me

...

I bear the pain you give me

You only care about what you’ve given

But you’ve forgotten what I care about!"

Qi Huaixuan sang, completely lost in the music.

With its distinct emotional layers and strong rhythm, the song "Burden," combined with the stunning stage atmosphere, left the audience completely captivated.

The result was a foregone conclusion. As soon as voting began, the progress bar behind Qi Huaixuan shot up wildly. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

[Don’t let this broody heartthrob get away, everyone! I refuse to accept any reason for his elimination!!!]

[Love you, love you, I’ll give you all my love!!]

[You want votes? Is that it? I’m not just voting for you myself—I’m making my partner, my entire extended family, their partners, and all of THEIR families vote for you!]

[What Burden? A Burden this handsome... where can I buy one??]

[I don’t know what a showdown is, I just know this man has walked right into my heart. Everyone, vote for him!]

[As a male, I really like this song too. It has this heart-wrenching feeling that’s just so wonderful. This must be what being in love tastes like, right?]

[I can actually taste love in this song. For a man who’s been single for decades, that’s a completely new experience. It’s obviously painful, yet you can’t get enough of it. Is this what love is?]

...

Soon, the host announced the winner of the second match: Qi Huaixuan.

Drenched from head to toe, the young man gave a bright smile, bowed in thanks, and walked offstage.

The sight once again elicited a fresh round of screams from the audience.

The winner of the third match was Heimu Ying from Ophina’s team.

Xiong Yuanyuan was the first to take the stage for the fourth match.

A form-fitting, silver-sequined dress clung to her excellent figure.

"AWOOO~~" A wild wolf howl stunned everyone.

No one seemed to have expected such an opening.

The rock band began to play.

"She snuffs the lamp, gloom veiling her shoulders

Sparks interweave, trapped in the embers

A heart newly wounded can’t stand the strain

...

Love is like a hungry wolf, its mouth so sweet

But get close just to play, and her fierce side you’ll meet..." (Note: Jane Zhang’s cover version)

This wild, fiery, and frenzied performance of "Legend of the Hungry Wolf" immediately made everyone take notice of the name Xiong Yuanyuan.

In the previous team competition, the upside was that everyone got screen time. The downside was that it was hard to stand out.

These individual showdowns were the real opportunity for everyone to make their mark.

That’s why Jiang Qin specifically chose this song for Xiong Yuanyuan. The main focus was the stark contrast.

By the time her opponent, a contestant with a lively, girly style, took the stage, the audience still hadn’t recovered from the shock of the performance.

So, the result was a foregone conclusion.

[Alright, alright, my fickle heart has fallen in love with another one.]

[So wild! I love it!!]

[I never thought a girl who looks petite but is still curvy could be so absolutely insane when she lets loose.]

[Her stage presence is so solid, and her high notes are rock-solid!]

[Qin Bao has such a keen eye. Two of her three trainees are already this outstanding. And the last one... I remember she was amazing during the auditions, right?]

Perhaps the performance was so stunning that only Jiang Qin’s fans were posting in the live chat.

The fans of the other four mentors either didn’t seem to know what to say, or perhaps they just didn’t want to speak up.

Soon, the fifth match began.

The two contestants in this group were close in skill, and the final vote was decided by a margin of only a dozen or so votes.

Li Yuanhui from Sili’s team won the match by a narrow margin.

To be honest, you could tell from her performance that the song she sang was incredibly generic.

It was so generic it seemed like any rookie composer could have written it.

Therefore, while a large portion of her votes came from her solid vocal performance, a small part was undoubtedly due to sympathy.

After all, she had landed in the group of a mentor who disliked pure-human females and would most likely continue to be treated dismissively.

Everyone was quite sympathetic, thinking about how she had fought tooth and nail to get this far, only to end up in such a difficult position.

But regardless, she not only won this match but also left a lasting impression on the entire audience.

Everyone remembered her as the unlucky pure-human female.