However, Liu Yu Tong was a True Disciple.
She was not as strong as Qi Yong Ye, so why?
Because she was the princess of the Liu Clan. So, for one, the Academy definitely had to give some face to the Liu Clan, and for another, at the tournament at the end of the year, she'd still be able to obtain a valuable treasure from her clan to drastically increase her battle prowess for a short time, thus allowing her to easily keep her position as a True Disciple.
Of course, each Great Clan could open this kind of back door only once, and guarantee the entry of only one of their clansmen into the Academy. All other clansmen could only depend on themselves to fight for their own place in this Academy.
Above True Disciples, there were three Core Disciples.
[1] ED/N: I know it seems confusing, but Chinese do not really have spaces between characters, and Can Ye looks better than Canye, which doesn't really look like Chinese to me. Just remember that he is an orphan and his family is not known.
[2] ED/N: Raws seem to say True Disciple, but he's a Core Disciple... probably a typo, or author meant the time before he became a Core Disciple.