That's an 18-man formation. Xuxian can't leverage the fact that they're individually weaker like we can because he doesn't know how to dismantle formations. Together, they are much stronger than him.
"Formations" is such a broad term, encompassing a huge variety of techniques, just like with individual martial arts. Just because you know how to counter the Guihe Formation doesn't mean that you have the experience to counter the Eighteen Bronze Arhat Formation that we've never seen before. And really, Xuxian has seen this technique far more often than we have, seeing as he's lived in the temple for so long:
And when I say they've seen it, I mean that they probably know exactly how to counter the Eagle Claw Fist itself. I mean, seeing as they're supposed to be a challenging trial for Shaolin disciples up to master-level and all. This is including pressure points and every other common trick. They are eighteen highly skilled fighters, not a bunch of mooks. Draining qi would work but holding off the other seventeen at the same time is the tough part.
The biggest benefit of A2 that hasn't been mentioned would likely be that we might be able to use Wuxiang Qiankun to mimic the formation, though of course that poses problems of its own as well. Still, they might not see it coming from us, and if we replicate the move better than they're able to counter it, we can still win. In a fight against a dude like Abbot Fangci, who seems to be built like a brick shithouse and possess powerful
neigong, we'd probably have to qi drain him for a bit before we can use WQS.
Of course, we'll see what our options are when it's crunch time, but given the fact that Xuxian seems more nervous about facing the Abbot and both trials are of equal difficulty, combined with the fact that our brutal techniques are less likely to harm the Abbot, it makes A1 the clear choice.
As for his mental block, part of it is Xuxian just psyching himself out for now. He beat the abbot before, so we know he can do it again. If we give him some help and support, he should be able to face the abbot sincerely. Honestly, if Xuxian wants to make up for how he harmed the abbot, then defeating him without harming him would be his way of showing that he has learned from his mistakes. Sorry, but the way I see it, the abbot is Xuxian's responsibility.
If we're going to accept this challenge, our fates are intertwined, so his responsibility is our responsibility too. The entire point of this trial is to show that Xuxian is fit to possess the technique by testing both his power and his mercy. If either of us are lacking in these attributes, we're screwed. Xuxian may have beaten the Abbot before, but he lacked control and mercy in doing so (and the Abbot may have been holding back as well, according to Xuxian). What I'm concerned about is that he might overcompensate for his previous mistake by lacking power this time.
On the other hand, given the Abbot's strong constitution and defensive
neigong, we have a bit more free reign to let loose without breaking the rules of the test. The same cannot be said for A2.
Also, we defeated Guo Fu via ring-out. We don't have that option against the abbot.
My point with that example is that we beat Guo Fu in such a way that he acknowledged that we defeated him, and that we did so without harming him.
