This was what was called the Kalpa. [1]
Reverse Kalpa, then, was a game of restoring chaos to order, returning disorder to sequence.
This game was an excellent way of training a cultivator's divine sense and deductive abilities, and was generally popular among major array sects and divination schools.
It sounded complicated, but was actually quite easy to understand.
Take the tens of thousands of papers Li Fan had discovered in Yi Xing's tomb as an example.
These papers originally had a fixed sequence. All Li Fan needed to do was restore this pile of shuffled papers back to their original fixed order. It sounded simple enough.
With this thought, Li Fan retrieved all the papers from his storage ring, preparing to give it a try.
But soon, he realized something, and his face darkened.
There was nothing simple about this!
Here there are... A sweep of his divine sense gave him the answer, and Li Fan's expression grew even more grim.
Forty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine sheets of paper.
If there are no other hints, and I simply try to brute-force every possible sequence...
Just thinking about it made Li Fan's head spin.
Even if I did nothing else for the rest of my life, I'll never manage to solve it!
Li Fan picked up one sheet, studying the content written on it.
These seemingly meaningless symbols must be the clue.
Unfortunately, they're equivalent to some prearranged cipher key, known only to the original parties involved.
Maybe it was something commonly used among disciples of the Taiyan Sect back in the day?
Unable to make heads or tails of it, Li Fan felt somewhat helpless.
I wonder if the Dao Transformation Stone Jiao Xiuyuan found back then was encrypted like this too?
Li Fan couldn't help but consider sending his avatar to ask for advice.
But then, a flash of insight struck him, and he temporarily abandoned the idea.
...It's nothing more than a password with a few extra digits. I might not be able to do it, but this guy certainly can.
Li Fan cleared his throat lightly and asked the Tianxuan Mirror whether it offered decryption services.
Tianxuan Mirror remained silent for a moment before giving an affirmative answer. However, a fee would be charged based on the difficulty of decryption.
After inquiring, he learned that it would cost no more than twenty to thirty thousand contribution points.
With his deep pockets, Li Fan felt reassured and boldly entrusted Tianxuan Mirror with the task of cracking it.
1. a Kalpa is an immeasurably long cycle of time that defines the birth, death, and rebirth of a universe, a world system, or even a cosmic god. ☜