六扇门主事曹雄(张铁林饰)召开武林大会欲统领江湖。各大门派赶赴大会,点苍派师徒一阳子(刘松仁饰)和徒弟马君武(梁朝伟饰)亦于其中。师徒两人遇上天龙帮突袭,幸得白云飞(梅艳芳饰)相救。其后白更答应往桃花潭捕捉千年灵龟,以解众掌门之毒。几经辛苦,3人终捕得灵龟,岂料又被蓝小蝶(关之琳饰)利用琴音夺走,扬言要白亲自去取回。此时,由于曹雄误传归元秘籍为白云飞所有,于是追杀白云飞的武林行动也展开了。而曹雄学得绝世武功,无人能敌......On his way to a congress of kung fu masters, an initiate falls from a high cliff, only to be rescued by lovely Tien Lam (Anita Mui), who rides a huge (and sorry-looking) crane. The rest of the movie features a battle between warring martial arts factions, an equally fierce rivalry between the two daughters of the Crane Master, the accidental empowerment of an unprincipled master after having eaten half of a secret scroll, a battle with an immense tortoise whose spleeny vapors save a group of poisoned swordsmen, lots of great aerial fights against nearly invincible villains, and the usual blood spurting from assorted mouths.