Sang Kuan Chun (Jack Long) is an old kung fu master who is getting ready to
retire from martial arts. He is satisfied that he's mastered the martial arts
and is the best in China. But just as he is about to put up the kings signboard
and call it quits, he receives a note alleging that he's not the best. Thus
begins his journey for one last challenge with each of the Seven Grandmasters to
prove his superiority. As Sang Kuan Chun and his three students travel from one
challenge to the next, the foursome acquires a fifth—a young man named Siu Ying
(Lee Yi Min) who wants desperately to train under master Sang Kuan Chun to
avenge his father's death. So he tags along, despite the master's insistence
that he will not accept any more students. Eventually we learn more about the
master's past. His own teacher, before he died, left him the secret book of The
Pai Mei Twelve Strikes. However a masked man soon stole several pages of the
book, leaving only nine strikes. So, somewhere out there, is this unknown man,
and he has the final three strikes of Pai Mei, which are the most deadly and can
beat even the other nine strikes. Sang Kuan Chun soon accepts the seemingly
devout Siu Ying and teaches him the nine known strikes of Pai Mei. Siu Ying ends
up learning from his "uncle" that Sang Kuan Chun (who was set up) killed his
father during a friendly tournament. Siu Ying is taught the final 3 strikes from
a mysterious figure and almost kills Sang Kuan Chun until he realizes he is in
the wrong. This all leads up to an exciting climax, where we learn the identity
of the masked man who stole the Pai Mei final strikes and the identity of the
man who killed Siu Ying's father.