Fifty years had passed of Shapur's glorious reign over the realm, a half-century during which no monarch in the world could match his supreme majesty and power. In those days, there emerged an extraordinarily eloquent painter named Mani, whose skill in the art of painting was beyond compare. Intoxicated by his unmatched craft, Mani crossed all boundaries and claimed the mantle of prophethood, declaring himself superior to all divine lawgivers of the world. He traveled to the court of Shapur, seeking an audience to enlist the Great King as an ally to his new faith. King Shapur, listening to the silver-tongued painter, grew deeply suspicious of his intentions. To safeguard the truth and test the claims, Shapur summoned the Zoroastrian High Priest and the wise elders of the ancient faith. Standing face to face with the pretender, the High Priest engaged Mani in an intense theological debate. With piercing logic and profound wisdom, the High Priest dismantled Mani's dualistic doctrines, establishing that the Sovereign Creator transcends time, space, light, and darkness, and that night and day are the single creation of the One God rather than equal competing forces. Unable to withstand the Priest's undeniable reasoning, Mani was struck mute; his grand claims dissolved, and his prestigious vanity withered away. Seeing Mani's total defeat and recognizing the threat of religious upheaval, King Shapur was seized with righteous wrath. He ordered Mani cast out of the court in disgrace, decreed that his skin be flayed from head to foot, filled with straw, and displayed publicly at the city gate and hospital walls as a warning to all would-be false prophets. The people of the realm praised the King's decisive justice, bringing a stern conclusion to the painter's heresy.