Yes, Zhou has Ghost Walker, it was also mentioned in Chapter 8.I don't know if we'll see the third year's NSC, or if we'll be focusing more on the politics of the 10 Families and everything. I can't imagine that it'll go on too long before Tatsuya kills/deposes Maya, and once that happens, Miyuki and Tatsuya gain new status in the world and might not have time (as they'd be the heirs, you'd be sure that Miyuki would change the way the family sees Tatsuya once she became the Clan Head) to expend to the NSC, given that Miyuki would be the leader of the most powerful family.
Wait, Zhou had Ghost Walker as well? I thought that only the Chinese commander had that...
Lu Gonghu wasn't, in my opinion, all that strong. He was strong against primarily blade wielding combatants, but he failed pretty badly in all of his battles against combatants who didn't solely fight with weapons.
I expected Zhou to be fairly strong, given that the shadow manipulator usually has a certain level of strength in order to be relevant in most stories that contain shadow manipulators.
The selection is for next year and Maya said she'd want Tatsuya to keep a low profile for 6 months. It might be wishful thinking but I'd want to see him compete for the last year without hiding his powers since the reveal about the candidates is for the 3rd year too plus the twins will be 2nd years . I really don't see Tatsuya killing Maya, she is not a nuisance, and helps to protect Miyuki, they share the same interests. She considers him as a member of the clan but is afraid of him...And I like her .
I don't consider Lu as particularly strong either for the same reason as you but he is still one of the top 10 martial artists. He had the hype at least, though his consecutive defeats were perfectly justified.