Our Qing Dynasty representative is not Chan Ga Lok, leader of the Red Flower Society from BOOK & SWORD: GRATITUDE & REVENGE, but Chan Gun Nam, the leader of the Heaven and Earth Society from DUKE OF MT. DEER - Wai Siu Bo's teacher. Different characters.
Chan Gun Nam's martial arts were superior to those of Chan Ga Lok. Chan Gan Nam was from the early Qing Dynasty period not too many years after the end of the Ming Dynasty, so the great martial arts of the Ming era had not fully deteriorated yet. Chan Gun Nam's feats (including a palm that could freeze opponents' blood), while far below the level of Sung Dynasty-era Greats, should be able to compete against mid-tier level people from that era.