Not only did the newcomers have to participate, but even veteran disciples like Zhang Hu and Shen Tang were preparing to join. As third-tier disciples, they were also eligible.
In the Sacred Institute, disciples were categorized by their cultivation. All who were not first-year newcomers were referred to as veteran disciples. The so-called third-tier disciples were those who had reached the rank of a three-star Grandmaster. A four-star Grandmaster was a fourth-tier disciple, and so on. The higher one's cultivation and tier, the better the treatment they received.
