When San Te (Chia Hui Liu), a Confucian philosophy student, witnesses the murders of his classmates and teacher by invading Manchu forces, he escapes to the Shaolin Temple to learn martial arts and avenge their deaths. But in order to become a Master, he must complete each of 36 challenges at the temple, each one within it's own chamber, and each a test of the use of his body and of various forms of weaponry.