Opening portals in reverse was something one never did because of how distorted the portal would get from such distance.
Also, you could accidentally put in too much gravity and cause the other side to start collapsing without you yourself knowing.
So, opening portals in reverse wasn't even taught most of the time. Even Ning hadn't trained for it because it would take a lot of time to get good at it, and even then there were too many unseen factors.
However, if it were a volcano, and you didn't have to worry about what you were dragging in from the other side, he supposed that would be a good idea.
Ning saw the falling lava and carefully grabbed them with his telekinesis before pooling them together and hurling it right at the old man.
The old man pushed it back with his own energy and sent it hurling towards Ning.