Adam wasn't particularly shocked by Ivy's star power.
Despite her high cultivation talent, her martial spirit; A primary contributor to star power density, was only two-star. Either she had awakened late, compressing her growth window, or she had neglected gathering Existence.
He leaned toward the latter.
Without sufficient Existence, a martial spirit could not evolve. And without evolution, star power plateaued.
Her Existence count supported that theory.
As for her special talents, they did not inflate her numbers.
That was the nature of re-awakened abilities.
They offered avenues of growth. Not immediate strength.
Equip and Connect had never increased Adam's raw physical parameters. They created leverage. The visible increase in his power came from what he equipped, not the base talent itself.
Remedy was another example.
