Retreat was out of the question.
They were twelve against one, and two of them were already dead. If they retreated now, it wouldn't just be a matter of losing face. The Binyin Sect wouldn't be able to recover for centuries. They would be mocked by the surrounding powers so relentlessly that they wouldn't even dare to step outside their own gates.
Every last one of them who fled back, including Zhou Haozhe and Master Shi Shitao, would be severely punished by the Supreme Elder.
Even if it meant spending centuries and a fortune in resources to train a dozen new Core Formation Masters, the Supreme Elder would never allow those who fled from battle and made the Sect a laughingstock to occupy high positions again.
So, despite their terror and deep sense of defeat, neither Zhou Haozhe nor Master Shi Shitao were even considering escape. They were focused only on how to turn the tables and how to raise their side's rock-bottom morale.
