In 1980s South Korea, a former cop, now in destitution, is placed in a rehabilitation center, where, by chance, he finds the Communist guerilla who had eluded his capture more than 30 years ago.

Yo-han is the son of a Christian minister. Following his father's career, he joins the seminary without much enthusiasm, then drops out. After doing his military service as a KATUSA, he teaches at the U.S. educational center. When he is given a job teaching in America, he hastily marries in preparation for the move. He is suddenly struck blind, then begins contemplating suicide. Instead he has a religious vision and dedicates himself to the ministry, and opens a church for the blind.

After losing his best friend in a fierce battle against Baekje in the first year of Queen Jindeok's reign, Hwarang Won-hyo questions life and death and becomes a monk. Despite being courted by countless women, from Queen Jindeok to Princess Yoseok, Sammo, and Asaga, Won-hyo resists all temptations. Until one day, when he is moved by Princess Yoseok's desperate prayers, he wanders the streets, feeling guilty for his disloyal behavior.

After the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, Iljimae, a master of the interlaced sword method, heads to Japan to find the national treasure, the Cheonryongsword, which was robbed by the Japanese pirate Kuroda. Around this time, there were two more men looking for Kuroda, one of them was Ma-cheol, a one-armed swordsman who lost his left arm due to Kuroda's trick, and the other was Kuroda's henchman Okamodo, who lost his newlywed wife and even lost his own eyes. This is Yoshiyama, the swordsman who lost his mind. At first, the three knights, who met by chance, were wary of each other for their own goals, but were captured by Kuroda's persistent pursuit. In the end, after a bloody fight, they succeed in revenge, and Iljimae returns home with the recovered Cheonryongsword.