Ming Yi

**Ming Yi** (明仪, *Míng Yí*), also known as **Earth Master Yi** (地师仪, *Dì Shī Yí*), is one of the Five Elemental Masters in the Heavenly Court. The mortal realm prays to him before any major constructions and wishes for successful labor work.

## Appearance

No one has ever seen what he looked like. He is later revealed to be the skeleton being worshiped in the Nether Water Manor, which is mentioned to be dressed in all black.

Judging by his bone structure, Xie Lian and Shi Wudu were able to determine that his body is flatter than an experienced Martial God such as Pei Ming, but that his feet and hands are fairly dextrous, especially his fingers. This is most likely a result of his past as an engineer.

## Personality

While nothing is known about his real personality, his past implies that he was an extremely hard-working individual.

## History

As a mortal, he used to be a skilled engineer. He assisted the public with his capabilities in many ways, such as repairing bridges, opening mountain paths, fixing roads and constructing houses, which brought prosperity to numerous people. This allowed him to face a heavenly calamity . However, between his calamity and ascension, he was kidnapped by He Xuan, who then impersonated him to get close to Shi Qingxuan and Shi Wudu.

After the Banyue incident, he escaped and shot a distress signal, and was killed shortly thereafter. He Xuan kept his bones in his throne room to keep the lingering spirit in the bones content. After He Xuan's identity was revealed, most heavenly officials believed that He Xuan killed Ming Yi; however, Hua Cheng cast doubt as to the truth of this assumption.

## Weapons & Abilities

* **Earth Master Shovel:** It was rumored that Ming Yi forged the Earth Master Shovel as his spiritual device after ascending. However, because Ming Yi was by then imprisoned by He Xuan, it was more likely forged by Ming Yi in captivity and taken by He Xuan. The Earth Master Shovel is a crescent moon-shaped shovel (like a monk's spade) that is able to dig through and flatten any kind of ground.

## Trivia

* He doesn't have much spiritual powers.
* Although the color classically associated with earth in Wuxing is yellow, He Xuan-disguised-as-Ming Yi wears black robes. In Wuxing, the color associated with water is black, which foreshadows the identity reveal.
* He placed 9th in the Battle of the Lanterns with 444 lanterns, although at that point He Xuan was already impersonating him.
	+ The number of his received lanterns is a hint towards the fact that the real Ming Yi has already died, as the number 4 (*sì*) is homophonous to "death" (*sǐ*) in Chinese.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Novel, Book 3, Chapter 115: Traversing Through Tunnels, Sword Penetrating from Above
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Novel, Book 3, Chapter 122: The Nether Water Manor; Black Robes White Bones
3. ↑ Novel, Book 3, Chapter 123: The Nether Water Manor; Black Robes White Bones II
4. ↑ Novel, Book 3, Chapter 124: Unravel the Dead Knot; Water Master Battles Demon Xuan
5. ↑ Novel, Book 3, Chapter 125: Unravel the Dead Knot; Water Master Battles Demon Xuan II
6. ↑ Novel, Book 3, Chapter 121: Combined Spirit; Coffin Boat Enters the Demon Sea II
7. ↑ Novel, Book 3, Chapter 91: Temple of a Thousand Lights Endlessly Illuminating the Lingering Nights