Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-33053086-20171006004010/@comment-4010415-20171128153524

We should probably mention that the writers actually even compared Adam's Semblance to Yang's in a livestream where they marathoned Volume 3. That is why we are certain about it absorbing energy from attacks.

As for the information that Yang was low on Aura and had been fighting off-screen, the writers explained that in an AfterBuzz interview:

Miles: The Aura is, y'know it's like, we establish in the [...] tournament fights that, like... Yeah, every hit can drop it and some hits can break it. It just so happens that Adam's attack was so badass that, in one hit, it managed to break it and do damage all at once, it was super powerful.

Kerry: Yang had also been fighting off-screen.

Miles: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that girl, that girl had been through some things! It's not necessarily a sword thing, more just like "Oh, he's strong! Oh, he's a scary man!"