Hmmm... okay, so a bit over 30 weeks of cultivation, let's say - give Ling Qi some padding to deal with setbacks. What should she look like come end of the year?
Well, first off - how serious to go for the "inner sect disciple" status. Inner disciples almost certainly get better rewards, probably have better opportunities and so on - however, it does leave her exposed to the intrigue of her new peers, so she'll need to not only be strong enough to get one of those slots, but have sufficient alliances (or ability to get them) with either her fellow competitors or the other inner sect disciples to help her deal with schemes against her specifically or the new inner disciples in general.
Ling Qi does currently have access to a cultivation art and a couple of combat arts that are likely to be something for her to work on for some time - and sect missions might give her opportunities for more goodies. On the other hand, waiting a year means a year of not having access to inner sect goodies - and losing the aura of 'rising talent' that she seems to have developed so far and that would probably gain her Elder-supplied opportunities. On the balance... I think she should definitely go for it.
So... the tournament*. The likely competitors for "top 8" are in the meeting; there's almost certainly a couple of others who declined to attend who were eligible, maybe one or two of those who are attending who wouldn't compete (due to outside obligations, noble ties or misfortune), and there's the possibility of some of those who aren't yet at the top to come across great fortune or get massive supplies from family to accelerate their progress. Of those there, Ling Qi is *probably* on the lower end in terms of combat prowess and cultivation... for now. It'll be pretty hard for her to beat the top three or four to Green by the end of the year, unfortunately - they just have too much of a head start *and* their talent isn't much worse than hers. Still, if she keeps up both spirit and physique and gets them to -mid or -late status, she should be fine cultivation-wise.
All of her serious competitors should probably have mastered Argent Soul not too long after she herself does, so they'll be reaping the benefits for cultivation for at least a half-year. Now, a decent number won't have had the benefits of Argent Soul 4/5 for their breakthrough to Yellow/Silver, so she gets a touch of an edge there. Most of them will have another cultivation art they're working on - although Ling Qi's Eight Phase Cycle is probably of higher quality than most of theirs'. Likewise, many will have some fairly good combat arts, while Ling Qi will have a couple of her own unique ones that should compare favorably.
Tentative goals for Ling Qi, year's end:
* Late Silver Physique, Late Yellow Spirit.
* Argent Soul 5, Eight Phase Cycle bottlenecked at whatever cultivation level she hits.
* Sable Crescent Steps, Forgotten Vale Melody, ? and ? either mastered or capped by cultivation level (two additional Arts that go well with her existing set).
* Meridians enough for her whole range of Arts, Qi at least 50 (My first guess for the 'bonus' levels for these is 10 meridians and 40 qi).
* Attributes ranging from 4-6 (4/6/5, 4/4/4, 4/5/4).
* Expression, Formations, Stealth, Athletics, Unarmed, Dodge and Throwing at 5. Empathy and Persuasion at 4; assorted other social skills at 3.
* Yes, there's the non-combat competition - if Ling Qi makes significant progress in study of and use of formations, she might be eligible for that path (I would expect that one formations guy at the meeting, Xuan, might well do that)... depending on how many of her fellow outer sect disciples ignore martial discipline in favor of "production". I think it's more viable for Ling Qi to use formations to enhance her performance in the tournament though.