A Great Teaching naturally has its leader, the Sect Hierarch.
However, many Great Teachings have a special existence known as the Supreme Elder!
The Supreme Elder is usually the person with the highest seniority and the oldest age within the Great Teaching. To achieve such longevity, one's cultivation base must be sufficiently high.
After all, while cultivators have long lifespans, they are not infinite.
Only with an adequately high cultivation base can one endure long enough to become the Supreme Elder. In many Great Teachings, it often happens that the Supreme Elder is many generations senior to the Sect Hierarch.
Sometimes, when the Sect Hierarch was young, it was the Supreme Elder who guided and took them out for experience, cultivating along the way.
Although that's not the case here.
