Faced with that Glazed Golden Hand, that savage maw, and those forty Buddha Teeth, Dharma Flower Forest felt as if he had fallen into the deepest, darkest nightmare. His cultivation of countless millennia seemed to have met its natural nemesis. He could no longer keep his mind calm; his thoughts roiled and surged like boiling water, dragging the innate light of his nature down from its infinitely lofty heights.
His Golden Body seemed shackled, his true spirit frozen. In that instant, he could not break free or manage any effective response beyond fear and confusion. All he could do was watch helplessly as the gaping maw closed in!
The three Sariras tumbled with Buddha-light, blooming into white lotuses as they braced against Meng Qi's hand-blade and prevented the Buddha Kingdom from splitting in two. Maitreya had also noticed the sudden upheaval above Guangling City. The smile vanished from his face for the first time. Ignoring Meng Qi's next attack, he appeared at Dharma Flower Forest's side. His body, with twenty heads and sixteen arms, swung its jeweled pestles and Wisdom Swords, striking together at the Glazed Golden Hand. The three Sariras paused for a moment, then rose again, bobbing up and down as they stabilized the surrounding world and dispelled every anomaly.
On the other side, Great Wonderful Aspect had manifested the projections of the Bodhisattvas of the Myriad Worlds and was locked in a fierce battle with the mad dogs filling the sky. Yet he, too, noticed the upheaval here. He tipped a jeweled vase, and the waters of the Ganges poured straight down over Guangling, swallowing the Glazed Golden Hand.
Supreme True Buddha! Meng Qi recognized the origin of the Glazed Golden Hand and felt a jolt in his heart. He did not take the opportunity to attack