Ming Dashan

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Ming Dashan (明大山)
Alias(es)	Principal Ming; Uncle Dashan, as addressed by Yu Chen 4 10
Gender	Male
Age	In his forties when he reaches rank fifty 36
Affiliation	Nuoding Academy; imperial nobility 10 23
Occupation/Role	Principal of Nuoding Academy; Viscount; Yu Chen’s guardian figure and combat instructor 15 19 23
Martial Soul	Wind-type Green Single-Edged Sword 10 16
Cultivation	Soul King with five soul rings: two yellow, two purple, and one black 47
Status	Alive; formerly crippled left leg fully healed 36 47
First Appearance	Nuoding Academy’s principal’s office 4

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Innate soul power: rank five	36	Revealed retrospectively when he explains his cultivation history.
Level forty-six — Soul Ancestor	10 11	Introduced as Nuoding City’s strongest expert, possessing two yellow and two purple soul rings. His injured left leg impairs soul power circulation and slows further advancement.
Rank fifty — fifth-ring threshold	36	Absorbs the Wolf Bandit leader’s left leg soul bone. Its energy clears blocked circulation, rebuilds his leg’s meridians, and heals his longstanding disability.
Soul King — fifth soul ring obtained	47	Kills and absorbs a ten-thousand-year Ghost Leopard after an academy hunting party subdues it. His ring configuration becomes two yellow, two purple, and one black; his exact post-absorption level is not stated.

Background / History

Ming Dashan was found and adopted by Old Tom, who also later adopted Yu Chen. He shares Old Tom’s surname, Ming, and regards Yu Chen as a younger member of his own family rather than a blood relative 11 20.

He graduated from the Heaven Dou Royal Intermediate Academy and originally had an opportunity to continue at the royal advanced academy. While attending the intermediate academy, however, he offended a powerful noble who ordered someone to break his left leg. The injury left him crippled for more than twenty years and disrupted his soul power circulation 19 36.

Despite this setback, Ming Dashan became Nuoding Academy’s principal, an imperial Viscount, and the strongest recognized expert in Nuoding City. During his Soul Ancestor years, his cultivation increased by less than one rank per year on average 10 23 36.

Appearance

• Clothing: Wears an ornate uniform when first introduced in his office 4.
• Face and expression: Middle-aged, with a weathered face and an exceptionally sharp gaze 4 42.
• Former disability: Walks with a limp caused by his injured left leg. After absorbing a left leg soul bone, he can stand, hop, and kick normally 4 36.

Personality

Ming Dashan is affectionate and protective toward Yu Chen. He puts aside academy work when the boy goes missing, takes responsibility when a first-ring hunt appears to endanger him, and prepares to sacrifice himself to buy Yu Chen time to escape a large Wolf Bandit pack 12 22 33.

His guidance is practical rather than limited to cultivation. He urges Yu Chen to build a foundation, avoid attracting unnecessary attention, and find trustworthy companions. Having traveled widely, he also teaches him about betrayal and treasure-related killings in the Soul Master World 19 28 29.

He is not indiscriminately merciful. When rescuing Oscar, he considers killing the attackers but refrains because Yu Chen is watching; instead, he severs their right hands to reduce the danger of retaliation. Nevertheless, Yu Chen’s willingness to save a stranger reassures him that the boy has retained compassion 29.

Ming Dashan readily recognizes others’ achievements. He accepts Yu Chen and Tang San’s rivalry when their friendship fails to develop as he hoped, and publicly credits Yu Chen with most of the success against the Wolf Bandits 31 37.

Abilities & Skills

Wind-Type Sword Martial Soul

• Manifests a Green Single-Edged Sword, accompanied by fierce winds as he releases soul power 10.
• His familiarity with wind techniques lets him recognize that Xiao Bai’s Hurricane could conceal Wind Blades rather than merely knock an opponent away 16.
• Soul-power-assisted movement allows him to run with strides of four or five meters despite his former limp 24.

First Soul Skill: Wind Blade

• Sends a white blade of light forward with a sword thrust 10.
• Cleaves through undergrowth and a large rock, exposing and injuring a concealed Mandala Snake 10.

Second Soul Skill: Wind Wall

• Creates a defensive barrier used to block Xiao Bai’s flame attack in the principal’s office 5.
• Shields Ming Dashan from the explosion produced by Yu Chen’s combined wind-and-fire attack in the Border Forest 25.

Third Soul Skill: Fearless Advance

• Provides rapid movement, allowing him to glide behind a Diamond Giant Ape and incapacitate it with a slash 11.
• Used alongside his fourth skill to kill five Wolf Bandits within Yu Chen’s Sandstorm 33.
• Lets him dash behind the wounded Ghost Leopard to deliver the killing strike required for his fifth soul ring 47.

Fourth Soul Skill: Wild Wind Hundred Slashes

• Unleashes a rapid sword assault accompanied by fierce winds 10.
• Wounds the Mandala Snake that Tang San subsequently kills for his first soul ring 10.
• Combined with Fearless Advance during the Wolf Bandit battle 33.

Soul Beast Knowledge and Instruction

• Lends Yu Chen an Intermediate Soul Beast Pokédex and helps select hunting grounds suited to the desired elemental attributes 9 25.
• Personally assists students with soul hunting and participates in the academy’s practical combat training 10 15 16.
• Examines students’ soul power after ring absorption 10 12.

Limitations

• His old leg injury obstructed soul power circulation and delayed his progress toward rank fifty until the soul bone healed it 36.
• Yu Chen’s Sandstorm restricts his senses as well as the enemies’, forcing him to rely on Yu Chen’s directions 33.
• As a Soul Ancestor, he is decisively overpowered by the Wolf Bandit leader despite attacking from ambush 34.
• His fifth soul ring is shown, but its associated soul skill is not identified 47.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Wind-type left leg soul bone — Blue-green bone recovered from the Wolf Bandit leader’s ashes. Ming Dashan initially offers it to Yu Chen, then absorbs it at his urging. Yu Chen estimates its age at no less than five thousand years based on the absorption time; it heals Ming Dashan’s leg and carries him to rank fifty 35 36.
• Noble token — Pale-gold token bearing a swan emblem and engraved writing. Represents his noble rank and is used to seek military assistance against the Wolf Bandits 32.
• Soul Hunting Writ — Presented to the guards for lawful entry into the Soul Hunting Forest 10.
• Intermediate Soul Beast Pokédex — Reference book loaned to Yu Chen during his first soul-hunting journey 9.

Relationships

• Yu Chen — Adoptive family junior who calls him “Uncle Dashan.” Ming Dashan supports his schooling, hunts soul rings with him, and protects his secrets. Yu Chen later saves his life, gives him the soul bone that heals his leg, and helps arrange his fifth-ring hunt 11 23 35 36 44.
• Old Tom — Adoptive father and village elder. Old Tom entrusts Yu Chen’s safety on the journey to Heaven Dou City to Ming Dashan 20.
• Yu Xiaogang — Longstanding friend whose theories he admires. Ming Dashan introduces him to Yu Chen as a prospective teacher, though Yu Chen declines discipleship 4 5 9.
• Tang San — Student whom he calls “half a disciple” because of his friendship with Yu Xiaogang. He helps obtain Tang San’s first ring but angrily reprimands him for firing a dangerous arrowhead at Yu Chen during training 10 17 18.
• Oscar — Rescued from two murderous teammates at Yu Chen’s request. Ming Dashan recognizes the quality of his food-type soul skill and welcomes him as a potential support partner for Yu Chen 29 30 31.
• City Lord Xiao — Close local contact whose cooperation enables Ming Dashan to arrange changes to Yu Chen’s official records 23.
• Ma Xiunuo — His martial uncle; Ma Xiunuo’s older brother was the principal of Ming Dashan’s junior academy. Helps keep Yu Chen and Tang San’s martial soul certificates from being reported to the Fasno Spirit Hall Main Hall 23.
• Jin Ying — Leads the academy expedition that secures Ming Dashan’s fifth soul ring, insisting on finding a suitable beast rather than settling for any ten-thousand-year target 44 46 47.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Nuoding Academy

Ming Dashan introduces Yu Chen to Yu Xiaogang in hopes that their shared detached martial soul characteristics will make the latter a suitable teacher. Although the arrangement fails, he continues supporting Yu Chen directly through reference materials, soul hunts, and combat training 4 5 9 16.

During the first-ring expedition, he helps Tang San obtain a Mandala Snake ring and fears for Yu Chen’s life after discovering that the Gale Griffin ring the boy is absorbing is six hundred years old. Yu Chen survives and reaches level thirteen 10 12.

Concealing Yu Chen’s Growth

After Yu Chen reveals that he has absorbed a soul bone, Ming Dashan warns him to keep it secret. To make his rapid advancement less conspicuous, he arranges to change his recorded age from nine to twelve through his contacts in the city government and Spirit Hall 23.

He then accompanies Yu Chen to the Border Forest for a second ring. When the ring unexpectedly becomes thousand-year grade, Ming Dashan worries that it will undermine their efforts to keep a low profile 25 26.

Oscar and the Wolf Bandits

Ming Dashan rescues Oscar by disabling two teammates who intend to murder him over an Ox Treasure. Oscar joins the journey, giving Yu Chen the support companion Ming Dashan had hoped he would find 29 31.

When the group encounters Wolf Bandits, Oscar goes for military aid while Ming Dashan and Yu Chen ambush isolated enemies. Their tactics develop into a larger battle using Yu Chen’s Sandstorm. The leader critically injures Ming Dashan, but Yu Chen defeats it and treats his internal bleeding and broken ribs 32 33 34 35.

The leader’s soul bone restores Ming Dashan’s leg and raises him to rank fifty. Arriving soldiers count seventy-seven dead Wolf Bandits. In Xinma City, City Lord Liu rewards the victory with thirty thousand gold coins; Ming Dashan retains twenty thousand to fund his next soul hunt 36 37 44.

Heaven Dou City and the Fifth Soul Ring

Ming Dashan brings Yu Chen and Oscar to the Heaven Dou Royal Intermediate Academy. Yu Chen’s recruitment also secures academy assistance for Ming Dashan’s fifth-ring hunt, removing the need to hire potentially untrustworthy partners himself 42 44.

In Sunset Forest, Yu Chen’s Pray for Rain assists Jin Ying and the teachers in subduing a ten-thousand-year Ghost Leopard. Ming Dashan delivers the final strike and absorbs its black ring, becoming a Soul King 47.

Notable Quotes

“Forget about repaying me. As long as you and Yu Chen don't forget that you came from little villages once you've grown, that will be enough.” 10

“Make a few trustworthy friends when you're out there. You can't get very far fighting alone.” 19

“Yu Chen, run! I'll hold them off!” 33