This saga tells the story of a young genius who, tired of being picked on, travels to Chen Village to learn the art of Tai Chi. He finds out the hard way that it is forbidden for a villager to teach an outsider when the villagers, from strong men to old women to little children, repeatedly challenge him to a series of fights, all of which he loses quite badly. But when a frightening army of steampunk soldiers bearing strange machines shows up, the villagers realise that in order to save their home, they must trust this strange outsider with the ancient and powerful knowledge of Tai Chi.