The film is set in the Ming dynasty, during the Wanli Emperor. Gu Jinfu, a eunuch from the spy agency Eastern Depot, leads a team to retrieve the ''Chrysanthemum Manual'', a martial arts manual which was stolen from the Forbidden City. They track down and attack Lin Zhennan. Lin Zhennan encounters Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan, two students from the Mount Hua Sect, and asks them to inform his son, Lin Pingzhi, where the manual is hidden.