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A dark horse referred to a person who wasn't thought highly of but displayed strength that exceeded everyone's expectations.
To be crowned as a dark horse was a kind of affirmation in itself. To be crowned as a dark horse, one needed to be strong enough.
Here, to be crowned as a dark horse, in addition to the above conditions, it had to be the first time participating in the King of Swordsmanship Tournament.
Soon, the last of the forty matches in the second round was over.
Up until now, after two rounds, there were a total of 160 matches. Everyone had participated in at least two matches. Other than a portion of people who had deliberately concealed their level of swordsmanship, most of the students' level of swordsmanship was known by the spectating students and the participating students.
There were more than one dark horse in the other groups. After all, it was not easy to enter the Inner Mansion.
There were a total of three people crowned as dark horses in Group 10. The first was Lei Hao, the second was Chu Mu, and the third was Jin Xia, a female student.
Jin Xia's performance in the first round was not eye-catching, and it seemed to be a little difficult for her to defeat her opponent. However, in the second round, for some unknown reason, she became high-profile and defeated her opponent with only three moves.
Her opponent was a senior student who ranked 738th on the King of Swordsmanship Tournament in the previous King of Swordsmanship Tournament, and could be ranked 72nd in the academy.
Jin Xia defeated her opponent with three moves and was in the limelight for a while. She even showed signs of overshadowing Chu Mu and Lei Hao. She was vaguely known as the first dark horse in Group 10. Lei Hao was ranked second, and Chu Mu was ranked third.
Chu Mu did not care about this ranking.
After the first and second round ended, the third round began after a short rest.
The third round of the competition was held after the first round of 80 people who won the first round went on to fight in the second round. The 40 people who lost the first round and the 40 people who won the second round were rearranged.
The 80 people who won the first round would go on to fight in the second round, and the 40 people who won the second round would be reduced to spectators.
When the third round began, 40 people would fight 40 people.
"I feel that your swordsmanship is not that simple." A voice rang out in Chu Mu's ears. In an instant, he determined that it was a sword qi transmission. Turning his head, he saw Lei Hao looking over. Lei Hao's expression was calm, but his eyes contained traces of battle intent.
"Same here, same here," Chu Mu replied with his sword Qi.
"I look forward to our battle." The battle intent in Lei Hao's eyes became even more apparent as a confident smile appeared on his face.
"Oh, Jin Xia's swordsmanship is more eye-catching than ours. Shouldn't you be looking forward to fighting her?" Chu Mu replied.
"She …" Lei Hao paused for a moment. "She might be good, but my instincts tell me that her swordsmanship is definitely incomparable to yours or mine. She isn't qualified to be my opponent."
"I'm looking forward to it too," Chu Mu replied. He was even more curious now.
Jin Xia's swordsmanship was indeed good, but Chu Mu could tell that even if she still had some reservations, it was not much. Compared to Lei Hao, who could not see the depth of his swordsmanship, there was a huge difference.
Therefore, not only did Lei Hao not take Jin Xia seriously, but Chu Mu also did not take her seriously. The so-called number one dark horse was just an empty title.
While Chu Mu and Lei Hao were chatting, the first round of the third round had already begun, and the second round was about to begin.
For the students who were defeated in the first round, this was a very good way to prove themselves, and that was to defeat their opponents.
Once they defeated their opponents, not only would they prove their strength, but they would also be qualified to continue the competition. However, if they failed, they would be directly eliminated and would not be able to enter the finals of the King of Swordsmanship Competition.
Therefore, in order to maintain their qualification, everyone showed their strength, and even exceeded their usual performance, in order to achieve victory.
Therefore, on the whole, the third round of the competition was more exciting than the previous two rounds. The students were so excited that their blood was boiling, and they could not wait to fight to their heart's content.
After some time, the 40 matches of the third round ended. Those who were defeated by Jin Xia, Lei Hao, and Chu Mu all won in the third round, and were qualified to participate in the fourth round of the competition.
However, they were all praying in their hearts that they would not encounter the previous three opponents again. Only they had personally experienced the strength of their opponents. Thinking about it carefully, they really were not opponents that they could compete with.
After the third round ended, the referee announced a quarter of an hour's rest. Only then did the crowd have the leisure to look at the other arenas.
At this time, the first, second, and third arenas were already in the fourth round of the competition. The fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh arenas were the same as the tenth, and were in the middle of a break. The eighth and ninth arenas were still in the third round of the competition, but it seemed that they were nearing the end.
A quarter of an hour passed quickly, and the fourth round of the competition was about to begin.
The fourth round of the competition was between the 40 people who had not lost in the previous three rounds, and the 40 people who had lost in the previous round, but won in the third round.
Of course, it was not the same as the previous 40 people against the 40 people who had lost in the previous round. Instead, the eighty people were grouped together and arranged by the referee.
In this way, it could be a battle between the strong and the weak, or a battle between the weak, or even a battle between the strong and the strong.
"The first match of the fourth round: Jin Xia versus Li Qing 'er."
"Senior Sister Jin Xia, please show mercy." Both of them were female students, and Li Qing 'er saluted as soon as she got on the stage.
"Show me your strongest strength," Jin Xia said coldly, and did not relax because of her opponent's request.
Li Qing 'er curled her lips and immediately attacked with her sword.
She knew that her swordsmanship was not as good as Jin Xia's, and the chances of her winning were slim, but not impossible.
Therefore, she wanted to distract Jin Xia by speaking first. As long as Jin Xia relaxed, she would have a chance. She did not expect Jin Xia to be unmoved, and had to suddenly attack with her sword in an attempt to catch Jin Xia off guard.
However, an excellent swordsman would always be alert and react quickly.
The moment Li Qing 'er attacked with her sword, Jin Xia attacked with her sword as well. She attacked first, but arrived later. Her sword stabbed at Li Qing' er, and Li Qing 'er's expression changed. She hurriedly retreated and blocked with her sword.
Jin Xia seemed to have made up her mind to defeat Li Qing 'er in the shortest time possible. Therefore, when she gained the upper hand with her sword, she attacked with four Sword Light, which made Li Qing' er misjudge and defeated her in one move.
"So easy."
"Did you see that? That was four Sword Light."
"I'm sure that four Sword Light is definitely not her limit," the students discussed.
Chu Mu was not surprised that Jin Xia could attack with four Sword Light.
Huang Shaoan, who was ranked in the 800s, could attack with five Sword Light. Jin Xia, who was obviously stronger than Huang Shaoan, definitely had a limit of more than five Sword Light. It was not difficult for her to attack with four Sword Light.
Lei Hao glanced at Jin Xia, and a trace of interest flashed in his eyes. It was not the kind of interest between a man and a woman, but the interest of seeing a strong opponent.
Soon after, Lei Hao looked at Chu Mu, paying special attention to Chu Mu's eyes. He discovered that although Chu Mu's eyes were also looking at the golden glow, they were very calm without any ripples. The fighting intent in his eyes couldn't help but grow even stronger.
"The second round of the fourth round …"
"The third round of the fourth round …"
"The fourth round of the fourth round …"
The judges of the ten groups kept announcing, and the fourth round of the fourth round of the competition went on one after another.
"The tenth round of the fourth round: Lei Hao versus Yue Cheng."
"It is my honor to compete with the second dark horse in swordsmanship." Yue Cheng laughed heartily after getting on the stage. He looked very straightforward and heroic. His appearance was also relatively rough, and when he spoke, he would grab the back of his head with one hand. It was easy for people to have a good impression of him.
"I won't hold back." Lei Hao said with a smile. It was the first time he had smiled in the competition.
"That's great. Even if I lose in the end, I will still be happy." Yue Cheng laughed, and suddenly, he attacked with his sword. The sword he used was bigger and heavier than the average sword, so when he attacked, it was extremely fierce, as if it was going to split a huge rock.
It was too fast, too sudden, too fierce!
Lei Hao was furious. He did not expect that this guy, who looked so simple and honest, was actually a cunning person. He did not dodge, but counterattacked. His sword was even fiercer than before.
If Yue Cheng's sword gave people the feeling that it was going to split a huge rock, then Lei Hao's sword gave people the feeling that it was going to shatter a huge rock.
Lei Hao was furious!
He originally thought that Yue Cheng had a good impression of him, but he did not expect that everything was just a facade.
Lei Hao was angry, and his sword was even fiercer and faster than before. It was so fast that people were dazzled, and so fierce that people even forgot to breathe.
Yue Cheng's strongest sword attack was split apart by Lei Hao. Lei Hao's sword attack was like a storm. Yue Cheng's face changed, and he quickly held his sword with both hands to block.
Every time he blocked a sword attack, his face turned a little paler. His arms trembled slightly, and his muscles bulged. He felt a huge force passing through his body, and his muscles began to feel sore and numb.
At this time, Yue Cheng had no time to regret.
"I admit defeat, I admit defeat, stop immediately …" Yue Cheng shouted.
But the angry Lei Hao did not care at all.
"Referee, I admit defeat." Yue Cheng's sword was sent flying. Seeing the incomparably ferocious sword slashing towards him, the aura of death enveloped him, causing him to be scared out of his wits. He hurriedly screamed.
A figure flashed, and a figure appeared in front of Yue Cheng, holding Lei Hao's sword with two fingers.
Yue Cheng's face was pale, and he sat down on the arena, gasping for breath. His pupils were dilating, and his eyes were filled with fear.
"Lei Hao wins." The referee released his fingers and announced. Lei Hao looked at Yue Cheng coldly, then turned around and jumped off the arena.
Chu Mu realized that the referee was able to catch Lei Hao's sword because he could use Xiantian Sword Qi. In other words, the seal of the arena was only effective on the students, or it was only effective on the Qi Transformation Stage and below.
"Too scary, I thought Yue Cheng was going to be killed by Lei Hao."
"My heart is about to stop."
"Yue Cheng deserved it. He is obviously a sinister person, but he still pretended to be generous."
"Fourth round, eleventh battle: Zhong Liyang versus Chu Mu." The referee flew down and announced again. (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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