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Soon, the eighty students from the losing side finished their forty matches. The forty winners were qualified to continue the competition, while the forty losers were directly eliminated and had no chance to participate in the King of Swordsmanship Tournament.
Although there might be some small mistakes, they had tried their best to eliminate all possible accidents and ensure that the forty students who were eliminated had the weaker swordsmanship.
It was worth mentioning that the female student, Shu Ya, who was defeated by Chu Mu, actually defeated her opponent and successfully obtained the qualifications to continue the competition.
After Shu Ya won, she specially glanced at Chu Mu. Her expression was clearly provoking Chu Mu, but it wasn't repulsive. Instead, it was a little mischievous, which made Chu Mu smile.
After the losing side finished their forty matches, it was the turn of the eighty winners.
"The first match of the second round: Zhao Yulong versus Wang Rui."
Chu Mu had seen Zhao Yulong and Wang Rui's previous matches. They were not bad and were slightly stronger than Shu Ya.
"It will probably take a lot of effort for the two of them to determine the winner," Chu Mu thought.
After Zhao Yulong and Wang Rui got on the stage, they began to attack. Sword shadows flashed and tore through the air with a slight sharp sound.
The two of them had similar attainments in swordsmanship, so the battle was almost even. It was difficult to determine who was better. It was very intense.
"Hey, who do you think will win this time?" Someone next to Chu Mu touched him and asked. It was the person who asked "Lei Hao or Zhang Huanglong" who would win.
"Wang Rui." Chu Mu glanced at him and softly said two words.
"Wang Rui?" That person suddenly stared a few times, but shook his head and muttered, "At that time, I think Zhao Yulong will win. Didn't you see Zhao Yulong's attacks gradually become fiercer, and Wang Rui gradually switched from offense to defense?"
Chu Mu's expression did not change and he did not pay any attention to him. Only those with good eyesight would be able to see through the profoundness within. The other party was only confused by the superficial appearance. Therefore, Chu Mu did not explain.
After about ten more moves, Zhao Yulong's ferocious offensive suddenly paused. Wang Rui seized the momentary gap to counterattack and defeat Zhao Yulong.
"Wang Rui actually won?" That person's face was full of disbelief, and the few people beside him were also full of astonishment.
"Hey, friend, why don't you explain? Why did you judge Wang Rui to be the winner? In the end, Wang Rui really did win." The student shamelessly asked.
"Zhao Yulong and Wang Rui's swordsmanship is on par with each other. It will be difficult to determine the victor. The two of them should have known this, so Zhao Yulong sped up his attacks and became more ferocious in an attempt to defeat Wang Rui. However, he did not expect Wang Rui's defensive ability to be so strong. " Chu Mu casually explained, "Fierce attacks cannot be endless. Wang Rui seized the moment when Zhao Yulong took a breath to counterattack, and thus defeated Zhao Yulong in a short period of time. The victory between them was not determined by the level of their swordsmanship, but by the application of their brains."
The few people beside him nodded thoughtfully as they listened. Lei Hao, on the other hand, looked at Chu Mu a few more times. Zhong Liyang's lips curled into a cold smile as he said indifferently, "Everyone understands this logic."
Chu Mu did not pay attention to Zhong Liyang, because the referee had already announced the second winner of the second round.
"The fourth winner of the second round, Lei Hao versus Song Dongxu."
"It's him." Chu Mu thought to himself. Lei Hao's first round had attracted Chu Mu's attention. Chu Mu could see that Lei Hao had concealed part of his swordsmanship level, so Chu Mu could not truly deduce Lei Hao's swordsmanship level.
"Song Dongxu will not be Lei Hao's match." Chu Mu glanced at Lei Hao's opponent and thought to himself.
Lei Hao and Song Dongxu's match began.
This time, Lei Hao was different from the first round. As soon as he drew his sword, he immediately launched a ferocious attack. Sword after sword stabbed out. Every sword was a combination of strength and speed, incomparably fast and abnormally ferocious.
This fighting style was clearly out of Song Dongxu's expectations. Song Dongxu's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly used his sword to block, one strike after another.
Song Dongxu's swordsmanship was not bad, so he was able to block every strike of Lei Hao's ferocious strike, but he was unable to counterattack.
"This time, Song Dongxu should win. He was ranked 813th in the last round's overall ranking. He can be ranked 84th in this academy." The person beside Chu Mu seemed to be talking to himself, but also seemed to be talking to Chu Mu.
"Lei Hao." Chu Mu said softly.
"Lei Hao will win?" That person was stunned for a moment. "That's not right. According to what you said just now, Lei Hao's attacks are very ferocious. After a spurt of energy, he will definitely be exhausted. Once he is exhausted and needs to take a breath, Song Guangxu will seize the opportunity to counterattack and lose."
Chu Mu shook his head slightly and did not continue speaking.
That student's words were indeed very reasonable, but the problem was that Lei Hao himself definitely understood this point. Since he understood it, why would he still attack so ferociously?
It was nothing more than confidence. Lei Hao was confident that he could defeat Song Guangxu before he was exhausted.
Chu Mu did not explain, and the people beside him immediately thought that he had no reason. They all snorted and looked at the battle.
Lei Hao's attacks were still incomparably ferocious, and there were no signs of exhaustion at all. That kind of feeling was like a human-shaped ferocious beast, very terrifying.
Song Guangxu's face was somewhat pale. Although he was still able to block every strike of Lei Hao, Chu Mu's sharp senses had already noticed that Song Guangxu's sword hand was slightly trembling.
Lei Hao also noticed this point. After his first strike was blocked, he withdrew his sword and roared. His aura was astonishing, and his next strike was even more ferocious and faster.
Song Guangxu's face changed greatly. The aura of this sword was extremely strong, like a ferocious beast rushing towards him. If he could use Xiantian Sword Qi, he would not be afraid. But in this state, it was simply impossible to block.
An incomparably ear-piercing sound exploded, and a sword flew up high. It was Song Guangxu's sword. His hand was slightly twitching, and Lei Hao's sword was slashing towards him. The wind whistled, as if this sword was going to cut off his head.
With a tremble, Lei Hao's sword steadily stopped at Song Guangxu's neck, and did not move at all. It showed that Lei Hao's incomparably exquisite swordsmanship foundation. When he should move, he should move, and when he should stay still, he should stay still.
"Lei Hao wins." The referee announced.
"Too exciting."
"Yeah, when Lei Hao's attack started, I felt as if a storm was attacking me. I was simply unable to breathe."
"Song Guangxu is also not simple. Although he was defeated in the end, he was able to resist Lei Hao's terrifying attacks for a long time."
"A dark horse, Lei Hao is definitely a dark horse in this year's King of Swords Tournament."
"Lei Hao actually won, I was right again." The person next to Chu Mu suddenly laughed embarrassedly. Chu Mu ignored them as he was thinking.
"From just now, I can see that Lei Hao is displaying his strength step by step. I can be sure that this is definitely not his true level of swordsmanship. His level of swordsmanship must be even higher." Chu Mu thought to himself. Suddenly, a wave of interest appeared in his heart. He wanted to spar with Lei Hao to see what Lei Hao's true level of swordsmanship was.
However, whether or not he could spar with Lei Hao would depend on the referee's arrangement. Chu Mu could not interfere.
"The winner of the second round, the tenth match: Zhong Liyang VS Huang Yushan."
Zhong Liyang's lips curled into a faint smile, looking like an expert in swordsmanship. "Junior Sister, I will go easy on you."
Huang Yushan's face was expressionless. She stabbed out with her sword and the match began.
Although Zhong Liyang was a little arrogant, his swordsmanship was really good. At least up until now, other than Lei Hao, whom Chu Mu could not see through, he was the most profound swordsmanship. In the end, Huang Yushan was naturally not his match and was defeated.
And in the other nine groups, there was a similar situation as Lei Hao, with dark horses appearing.
The dark horse of the seventh group was Liang Haishan.
Liang Haishan's fighting style was not as direct and fierce as Lei Hao's, but his broad and wide swordsmanship, coupled with the subtle changes in the swordsmanship, fully displayed the four key points of swordsmanship: speed, accuracy, steadiness, and ferocity. Therefore, in both matches, he defeated his opponents without any difficulty and successfully entered the winning side of the new forty people.
"The winner of the second round, the twenty-third match: Chu Mu VS Gu Luo."
Chu Mu picked up his unsharpened sword and jumped onto the arena. The Innate Sword Qi and mental realm in his Dantian were all cut off, making him unable to move or use them.
Gu Luo went on stage and said, "Chu Mu, I watched your match with Shu Ya. Your swordsmanship is not bad, but compared to me, it's not good enough. You should admit defeat, so as not to waste time."
"Make your move. The truth will tell you the result." Chu Mu said indifferently.
Gu Luo smiled and suddenly took a step forward. This step was straight like a bow, and his waist and horse became one. His strength was transmitted to his arm and straight to the sword. The sword seemed to pierce through a steel plate, bringing with it a slight ear-piercing sound as it pierced towards Chu Mu.
Many people only saw a sword shadow with a trace of Sword Light in front of them. It was so fast that it was hard for people to react.
"Gu Luo was ranked 685 in the last King of Swordsmanship Tournament. He can be ranked 63rd in the academy. He must be more powerful now than he was three years ago."
"Yes, in my opinion, Gu Luo will definitely win this battle. There is no doubt about it."
"Yes, although this Chu Mu's swordsmanship is not bad, he is still too young. Maybe if he is given a few more years, he can become even more powerful and compete with Gu Luo."
Just as many students were discussing, Gu Luo's sword suddenly missed. Then, a cold star bloomed in front of him.
He hurriedly waved his sword to block, but there was no sound of collision. Gu Luo's sword missed again, and another cold star bloomed in front of him.
This time, Chu Mu used a small part of his strength to fight with Gu Luo. However, he controlled his swordsmanship to be at the same level as Gu Luo's, using this to temper his skills and so on.
Not long after, Chu Mu completely understood Gu Luo's swordsmanship. Chu Mu also cracked the subtle swordsmanship that was taking shape. Chu Mu defeated Gu Luo in one strike.
"Gu Luo … actually lost …"
"Inconceivable, could this Chu Mu be a dark horse like Lei Hao?"
"Even if he is a dark horse in this group, he is definitely not as good as Lei Hao. Once he encounters Lei Hao, he will only be defeated."
… … (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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