After murdering a nobleman, assassin Dugu Ngan (Ku Kwun-chung) is saved from capture by a member of the enigmatic Murung Family, which once held great prominence in the jiang hu, but has all but vanished in recent years. With Dugu’s aid, the family plans to reassert itself by locating a manual that reveals how rifles and explosives are produced, and then use the arms to "unite the martial world" (translation: annihilate any who opposes them). The book is in the hands of the Bai family and their daughter, Bai Bing (Ching Li), is viewed by the Murung matriarch (Cheng Ke-wei) as a bargaining chip. The girl is kidnapped, but master swordsman Shen Shengyi (Ti Lung) subsequently foils the plot. The Murung family is determined to get the manual, however, and the Bai family is soon subjected to another attack.

Based on a novel by Huang Ying, ROVING SWORDSMAN unfolds in a more straightforward fashion than director Chor Yuen’s Gu Long adaptations, but still has a few twists and turns to offer. Unfortunately, what it does not have is a compelling tone or original story, and the swordplay (choreographed by Tong Gai/Tang Chia) fails to make up the difference in this case. Much attention is spent on the final confrontation down in the bowels of the Murung lair (which includes an intricate maze of mirrors and other traps), but this sequence goes on so long, the novelty wears off and tedium sets in. There are also far too many instances where combatants stop fighting for a few seconds to spew bursts of exposition, a narrative device that comes across clumsy at best. Ti Lung does what he can to enhance a standard character and there are moments of visual invention, but overall, it is easy to see why HK audiences of the time were starting to lose interest in this sort of film. Supporting players include Kwan Hoi-san (as the Bai patriarch), Ku Feng (as a Murung elder known as "Chameleon"), and Ou Yang Pei-shan.