During the middle part of the Sung dynasty, General Yang Yeh and his seven sons helped resist foreign aggression and won much credit from the Emperor. Jealous of their success, General Pan Mei (Lin Ko-ming) conspired with Yeh Li-lien (Wang Lung-wei) of the tartars, involved them in a siege in the Chin Sha Tan battle, and then accused them of conspiracy. The Yangs suffered heavy casualties, and only No. 6 (Alexander Fu Sheng) returned home in a delirium as a result of the mental shock. Pursued by the enemy, No. 5 (Gordon Liu Chia-hui) was rescued by a hunter (Liu Chia-liang), an ex-subordinate of General Pan Mei, who sacrificed his life for him. Torn by great grief, he became a monk in a temple in Wu Tai Shan, and practiced the 8-diagram pole inspired by the famous Yangs' spear. Impressed by No.5's patriotism, Priest Chih Hung (Ching Chu) reported his whereabouts to Lady Yang (Lily Li), but was killed by the rebels on his way back. Lady Yang then secretly sent her daughter No. 8 (Hui Ying-hung) to bring back No. 5 when she was helped to flee by an ex-soldier (Yuan Te) of her late father. At an inn, she was captured by Pan's troops. The injured soldier rushed to Wu Tai Shan to report the news to No. 5. No. 5 arrived at the inn to inflict heavy casualties on the rebels and saved his sister. But greatly outnumbered, he was captured and rescued by the abbot (Kao Fei), who led the monks to help him. No. 5 eventually killed the two enemies, and decided to lead a wandering life, after telling his sister to testify against the rebels.