In the late Qing Dynasty, LIU Jin-xi (played by Donnie YEN) is a papermaker and father of two sons who lives a seemingly normal life with his family in a remote village. However, the arrival of a detective soon threatens to tear them apart. Detective XU Bai-jiu (played by Takeshi KANESHIRO) arrives in town to investigate the recent death of two bandits during a robbery. It appears that they are accidentally killed by LIU out of self-defense. But upon autopsy, XU discovers that they are in fact two of the most wanted outlaws with martial arts skills! How could an average family man kill two fierce desperados single-handedly? As a kung fu fanatic, XU figures out that this is no pure accident; LIU must conceal extraordinary martial arts skill necessary to make such a deadly defense. XU’s investigation further leads him to the involvement of the 72 Demons – the most hostile and vicious clan in the martial arts world whose members are trained to kill without mercy. The MASTER (played by Jimmy WANG Yu), the ruthless head of the clan, possesses skills so powerful beyond anyone’s imagination...