Chapter 496: Wrong, Wrong Again!

Su Mu glanced at Heilong and Zero resting with their eyes closed beside him, then cast his gaze over the 100,000 devout believers.

The synchronized prayers of 100,000 people swelled with a deafening roar, echoing between heaven and earth.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, then walked slowly toward the 100,000 believers. His profound gaze swept across their faces like a commander inspecting his troops.

Every believer who met his gaze subconsciously straightened up, their prayers growing louder. They seemed desperate to prove to this Pope of Hell that the believers of Heaven were no less capable than those of Hell.

Then Su Mu raised his hand toward the 100,000 believers. "Stop."

His calm voice wasn't loud, yet it miraculously drowned out 100,000 people.

The prayers came to an abrupt halt. The crowd looked at the Pope of Hell in confusion.

At the very front, Zero and Heilong had also opened their eyes.

Zero furrowed his brow. "Pride, what is the meaning of this? We are at a critical juncture in awakening the Primal Angel. If halting the believers affects the Primal Angel..."

He felt he had seized an opportunity and opened his mouth to pin a massive crime on Su Mu, but Su Mu hadn't given him this opening for nothing.

Su Mu said calmly, "If you keep praying like this, you will never awaken the Primal Angel!"

"What did you say?" Zero flared with anger.

"Because your prayers are wrong."

Wrong?

The crowd froze, their eyes brimming with skepticism. They had prayed exactly like this from the very moment they joined the Primal Divine Cult. How could they be wrong?

"Have you believers of Heaven lost even the most basic understanding of the Primal Doctrine?" Su Mu scolded, his expression turning severe. "You've been reciting an incorrect version of the Primal Scripture all this time! How could you ever hope to awaken the Primal Angel?

"Furthermore, many of you don't even know the true meaning of the verses. It is nothing but distortion and fabrication!"

"Pride, enough of your nonsense! How could our Primal Scripture be wrong?" Zero's expression changed drastically.

Su Mu shot him a sidelong glance. "What is chapter 128, verse 76 of the Primal Scripture?"

Zero answered without a second thought, "'Hold devotion in your heart, face toward the deity, remember the boundless divine grace, and never fail it.'"

"Wrong! Absolutely wrong! God must not be looked upon directly; that is the most basic form of reverence and etiquette toward the divine. Yet you say to face toward the deity?

"The correct text is, 'Direct your devout heart to God, betray not His grace, pray with constancy, and let your faith be as firm as bedrock!'

"It means directing a devout heart toward God, not literally pointing your face at Him."

Zero's expression instantly froze. He opened his mouth to retort, but found he had absolutely no idea how.

Hold devotion in your heart, face toward the deity...

Direct your devout heart to God, betray not His grace...

He silently repeated the lines in his mind and suddenly realized that Su Mu's version did indeed sound more accurate.

Could I really be wrong?

If even he felt this way, the 100,000 believers were naturally no exception. These fanatics were deeply devout, but they weren't fools. Comparing the two verses side-by-side, they could easily hear which one was better.

"What is chapter 1, verse 1 of the Primal Scripture?"

Zero blurted out, "'Heaven and earth unopened, chaos without end. The Primal descended, and light shattered the darkness.'"

Su Mu shook his head in disappointment. "Wrong again. When heaven and earth were unopened and chaos was without end, there was no light or darkness at all. Since there was no darkness, why speak of light shattering it?"

Zero shuddered, his eyes widening uncontrollably. "This... this..."

"The original text reads, 'Heaven and earth undivided, chaos like an abyss. The silent night deep, boundless and without end. The Primal Spirit emerged from the void. Dazzling light burst forth, tearing the primordial gloom asunder. Beating wings parted the universe, and the foundation of heaven and earth was laid!'"

The rhythmic, brilliant verses of the Primal Scripture flowed from Su Mu's lips. Carried by his mental power, the words left the crowd completely mesmerized.

For religious fanatics, faith was paramount. Second only to that were their holy scriptures and doctrines. A true religious order couldn't just erect a divine idol; it needed a formal doctrine and a core ideology.

To an outsider, the recitation might have meant nothing, but to the ears of these fanatics, it was no different from the majestic voice of God.

Zero stood frozen, his lips trembling. "I was actually wrong... The Primal Scripture I studied has been incorrect all along. No wonder we've been unable to awaken the Primal Angel..."

Suddenly, as if waking from a dream, he hurriedly grabbed Su Mu's hands and pleaded excitedly, "Pope of Pride! The full text... the correct full text! Please, you must impart it to us!"

Su Mu smiled faintly. "Spreading the glory of the Primal Doctrine is a duty this Pope must fulfill."

Looking at the excited crowd, he silently thanked the Primal Pope of Hell. If not for that man's century of unwavering, devout study, Su Mu could never have reached such profound mastery over the Primal Scripture.

The environment in Hell wasn't nearly as perilous as Heaven. As the largest religious faction there, the Primal Divine Cult spent most of their free time collectively studying the Primal Scripture.

Heaven was a different story. The believers here had to fight tooth and nail just to survive. They had no time to study such things, especially since the doctrine couldn't directly increase their strength.

In truth, Heaven's version of the Primal Scripture was the original, while Hell's was a revised edition. Hell's version had corrected numerous grammatical errors and logical flaws, while also sprinkling in an abundance of flowery praise.

But "original" didn't necessarily mean "better." The Primal Scripture hadn't simply fallen from the sky, nor had it been penned by the Primal Angel. It had been written by the very first believers. Naturally, a fabricated text would be riddled with holes.

The Pope of Hell, aided by millions of Primal Cultists, had spent a full century refining their version until it was utterly flawless.

Possessing the other man's memories meant Su Mu had essentially immersed himself in the Primal Scripture for a hundred years. Fooling these people was a walk in the park.

At Zero's pleading, Su Mu began to teach and interpret Hell's version of the Primal Scripture for the masses. Backed by the Pope's century of memories, he spoke with the profound eloquence of a master scholar. His sermon was so spectacular that it left the crowd completely spellbound.

This had always been Zero's job, but now Su Mu had thoroughly usurped it.

As time passed, the crowd realized that this Pope of Hell wasn't just highly capable—he possessed boundless wisdom. His interpretation of the Primal Scripture was remarkably profound and insightful.

Standing off to the side, Zero listened closely, feeling a mixture of pain and joy.

The pain stemmed from his own selfishness as a human and a Pope; Su Mu's flawless sermons threatened to shake his own authority.

The joy came from his identity as a religious fanatic; hearing such brilliant doctrinal theories filled his heart with profound ecstasy.

Several days later, the 100,000 believers were all reciting the new prayers. Everyone wore a faint look of joy on their faces—the thrill of newly acquired knowledge.

Su Mu didn't sneak any personal agendas into the teachings. For one, he worried Zero might see through the deception. But more importantly, there was absolutely no need to.

The fanatics genuinely believed that continuously reciting the Primal Scripture would awaken the Primal Angel. In reality, they didn't need the Primal Scripture at all. They could recite something entirely different, or even hurl nonstop curses at the Primal Angel, and the result would be exactly the same.

The Primal Angel would merely be woken up by the sheer noise, not miraculously stirred from slumber by their devout faith.

A god didn't care what mortals had to say. Whether they chanted holy scriptures or hurled vile curses, it only found them noisy.