The Truth of That Year

A Close Disciple meant one's final personal disciple.

Generally speaking, disciples were divided into three stages.

The first was an Outer Sect Disciple.

The second was an Inner Disciple.

Only the third was a personal disciple.

No matter how many Outer Sect Disciples died, it would not affect the sect or its elders. In this era, where cultivation resources and techniques were monopolized, even if every Outer Sect Disciple died, there would be no need to worry that no one would come seeking to study under them.

Inner Disciples, on the other hand, were the foundation of a sect and its future backbone. The disciples who emerged from the inner sect would someday either become elders or deacons of the outer sect, or elders or deacons of the inner sect. Big or small, they would still be leaders—figures in management who had earned their descendants a better starting point through their own effort and talent.

As for whether their descendants would amount to anything, that was no longer their concern. Even if cultivators lived longer and could survive to see their great-great-grandchildren's generation, could they possibly live forever?

A certain First Emperor was a perfect example.

Drawing upon the legacy of six generations, he unified the world.

And what happened?

Wasn't the family fortune still squandered by a certain Qin Er Shi?

Thus, the facts proved that no matter how many generations worked hard, it could all be thrown away by a single prodigal. That was why many bosses did not fear their children eating, drinking, and playing around—they feared their children getting involved in entrepreneurship and investments. Without the skills for it, they still wanted to take on the job? Were they really treating the money their ancestors had fought so hard to earn as tissues?

After that came