An academy and family sects are different.
Joining a sect subjects you to its restrictions, with clear hierarchical relationships, representing the sect in all matters.
In contrast, apart from students and teachers, there's no significant status difference between students of different years in a school. Similarly, schools have no mandatory demands on their students apart from educating them.
Students of the academy, regardless of their sect, share a peer relationship until graduation.
Upon graduation, they can freely join any sect as they wish.
Though academies do not cultivate their own forces, students develop special feelings for their school during their studies, hence they are bound to provide support to their alma mater thereafter. Moreover, the academy possesses the most comprehensive cultivation techniques and mental methods, founded by prominent figures of the Aotian Continent, making each academy remarkable.
