Ling Tian was already at the end of his rope, but Venerable Sword Saint was in no better shape. To make matters worse, Little Strife continued attacking him, leaving him no choice but to defend himself. Though he could occasionally unleash attacks like the Nine-layered Sword Strike, they posed no real threat to Little Strife. As mentioned before, unless Venerable Sword Saint could use Phantom Combo, he couldn't pose much of a threat to Ling Tian and Little Strife.
Even so, Venerable Sword Saint hadn't given up his last chance. He hadn't realized Ling Tian's true condition, especially since Ling Tian had also unleashed his Phantom Clone, so he hadn't focused his attacks on him. In doing so, he'd missed his best opportunity to kill Ling Tian.
In fact, even if Venerable Sword Saint had gone all out against Ling Tian, he might not have been able to do anything to him. After all, Ling Tian still had several Phantom Clones in this space. Whenever Venerable Sword Saint approached, Ling Tian could lock onto one of his clones and teleport to it with ease, buying himself at least a little time. By now, Venerable Sword Saint had also expended a great deal of energy, so Ling Tian found it much easier than usual to evade his pursuit.
And so, Little Strife did everything he could to keep Venerable Sword Saint occupied, while the latter could do little to him. As time passed, Ling Tian's condition gradually improved. He could even use his Teleportation Secret Technique and other secret techniques again, so he no longer had to worry about Venerable Sword Saint suddenly attacking him.
Time drifted by, and before long, the year was up. The moment the deadline arrived, Ling Tian and the others were teleported out of the space.