"That's not how you use a teacher!"
Waving a hand, Hilliard reproached him with an amused smile. "When I said the road would be difficult, I meant because I'm a wanted criminal. Do you really think this inheritance isn't being watched?"
"If the Empire's Ascenders notice that a new Immovable Fortress practitioner has appeared, do you think they won't figure out who your inheritance came from? You'll become the Empire's most wanted criminal of the new generation."
"Really?" Ian raised his brows, somewhat surprised. "Other than you, Teacher, no one in the Empire practices this True Form?"
"They can't learn it."
Looking up at the ceiling, Hilliard said softly, "This inheritance had some flaws before. I corrected them, but I never had the chance to compile all the revisions..."
Stopping halfway through, the old knight fell silent, seemingly lost in memory.
Several seconds later, he lowered his head and stared into Ian's face.
Hilliard said slowly, "What you said makes sense too. With me as your teacher, not practicing Immovable Fortress would indeed be a waste."
"How about this."
He had just thought of a compromise. "You can use a Reef-Eating Sea Otter as the main ingredient for the Sand Armor Apprentice Magic Potion."
"The Reef-Eating Sea Otter's spinal Crystal Bone possesses both water and earth properties. It can serve as Magic Potion material for certain water-element True Form inheritances, and also for earth-element True Form inheritances. If you add some supplementary materials to stabilize it, you can combine the advantages of both and be regarded as an Ascender of both water and earth."
"Of course, this only applies to the First Energy Level. Starting from the Second Energy Level, you must specialize. By then, I expect you'll have figured out exactly which path you want to take."
"Whether you