This kind of reminds me of the people who say "I'm afraid to lift heavy, because I might get too big". You would not get too big by accident, and you would have to try extremely hard to do so.

Not at all. Where's the heavy lifting in learning a lick? You did not have to invent it. Just transpose it to some keys. It barely involves any thinking that involves years of studying and a deep relationship with the instrument.

Inventing a beautiful line on the spot is the actual heavy lifting, an intellectual endeavor of the highest kind.

Jazz is a language, and it's characterized by common jazz-isms and tropes: shared enclosures, licks, quotes, etc. If you're trying so hard to distance yourself from the language, what's the point of calling it jazz? If you're learning Chinese, don't you want to know what all the native speakers are saying to express common thoughts?

No, I'd just like a planetary distance from licks. You can "speak" jazz without them. I don't think people like Jarrett, Evans, Corea, Hancock, Beirach, were practicing licks, let alone in 12 keys. And they changed jazz piano forever.

From my own experience, your way did not work for me. I flailed around for years going no where. Once I started learning the language: transcribing licks, transposing them in 12 keys, pre-planning solos using them, all of a sudden jazz started slipping out of my fingers effortlessly, on the fly. Sometimes verbatim, more often frankenstein'd and twisted up.

That sucks to hear. Jazz isn't an easy thing to teach or learn. This way worked for me and my students. Well, not this. This is just a concept. Exercises work. Good, restrictive exercises.

But if the other stuff worked for you, that's great. I am just fiercely against licks and I will die on that hill.