"Your laws can burn heaven and earth, burn space and time."
Lai Te withdrew his foot, crouched down, grabbed Liu Yan's scattered long hair with one hand, and lifted her face from the ground.
"But look at this body of mine. It has been tempered since the dawn of Chaos, every inch of skin shattered and reborn countless millions of times."
"Every bone is inscribed with primal Dao patterns from before the primordial age. What can your fire possibly burn through?"
He released her hair and instead gripped her nearly transparent wrist, raising it before his eyes for inspection.
That hand had already become half-ethereal. The last few crimson threads of law still flowed between her fingers like lute strings on the verge of snapping.
"So-called law cultivators."
Lai Te held her wrist as his thumb slowly exerted force. Liu Yan's translucent palm let out a string of fine cracking sounds between his fingers, like ice splitting apart.
"You place your Dao upon the rules of heaven and earth—burning laws, merging into laws, integrating your Dao with laws... It sounds profound, but once your laws are suppressed by a higher level of power, you are nothing."
"Crack!"
Liu Yan's left index finger shattered at the middle knuckle, splitting into several translucent fragments. The fragments burned for an instant in the air before turning to ash.
Liu Yan's entire body trembled. Intense pain surfaced on her face, but she clenched her teeth and made no sound.
"And me."
Lai Te crushed her second finger. His movements were exceedingly slow and steady, as though dismantling an exquisite piece of porcelain.
"My Dao is my own body."
"Laws may collapse, heaven and earth may be remade, order may be overturned... but as long as this body of mine remains, I am the Dao."