The "Four Evils" (天下四惡 / 四大惡人) are a group of four eccentric martial artists notorious for committing heinous crimes.
The four are ranked in order of seniority: The Shaolin School, based in Shaolin Monastery on Mount Song, is headed by senior monks of the Xuan (玄) generation with the abbot at the helm.
Like the royal family, they are trained in martial arts and their most powerful skill is the "Six Meridians Divine Sword" (六脈神劍), which allows the practitioner to project blade-like streams of energy from his fingers.
The Lords of the 36 Caves and 72 Islands (三十六洞洞主，七十二島島主) are a loose assembly of martial artists who were implanted with the "Life and Death Talisman", a deadly poison, and forced into submission by Tianshan Tonglao.
They eventually decide to rebel against Lingjiu Palace when they could no longer stand Tianshan Tonglao's cruelty.