How Long Does It Take to Get from the Heaven Dou Empire to the Sun Moon Empire?

On the road from the Heaven Dou Empire to the Sun Moon Empire.

Xiao Changge did hope he could own a flying Soul Tool, but flying Soul Tools were too expensive, and he hadn't obtained any flying Dou Qi techniques yet.

He did have enough money to buy a horse-type Soul Beast—one that was a trained, highly loyal hundred-year-old herbivore. It wouldn't pose any danger to him, and it was very fast, but the price was simply unreasonable.

So, he chose to buy an ordinary horse and ride it to the Sun Moon Empire.

There were ordinary animals in Douluo Continent. Although the core setting of the work revolved around Soul Beasts with Soul Power, ordinary animals still existed in that world.

The role of ordinary animals: as part of the natural ecosystem.

In the original novel and its animated adaptations, harmless wild animals without Soul Power often appeared. For example, there were plump little squirrels in transition scenes, as well as all kinds of insects and birds used to set the atmosphere.

They formed the foundation of Douluo Continent's ecosystem.

As supplies for human life:

Human settlements on Douluo Continent, such as the cities and villages of the Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire, needed agriculture and animal husbandry. The meat ordinary people ate every day, such as pork and chicken, came from ordinary animals. In addition, the Speed Clan once used ordinary sharp-tailed swifts to deliver information, serving a role similar to carrier pigeons. This also indirectly proved the widespread existence of ordinary animals.

The difference between ordinary animals and Soul Beasts.

In the setting of Douluo Continent, ordinary animals and Soul Beasts were fundamentally different:

Whether they possessed Soul Power: ordinary animals had no Soul Cores and couldn't cultivate; Soul Beasts, meanwhile, were creatures mutated by the energy released from the extinction of the Ancient Dragon Clan and possessed Soul Power.

Difference in combat strength: ordinary animals followed the laws of nature, and their bodily functions were no different from regular beasts; Soul Beasts could absorb the essence of heaven and earth to continuously grow stronger. High-level Soul Beasts were not only enormous, but also highly intelligent. Some could even speak human language or take human form.

Value to Soul Masters: ordinary animals couldn't provide Soul Rings; after Soul Beasts were hunted, they would drop Soul Rings corresponding to their age, with a small chance of dropping Soul Bones. This was the core method for Soul Masters to increase their strength.

So, there were ordinary horses on Douluo Continent too. Although they weren't as fast as Soul Beast horses, having one was better than having none. He could run there himself, but Xiao Changge had also mastered the movement technique Explosive Step.

And he really could run all the way to the Sun Moon Empire, but that would be a very difficult thing to do.

First, the conclusion: using the Explosive Step from Battle Through the Heavens to run from the Heaven Dou Empire to the Sun Moon Empire would take roughly two to three days by conservative estimates from the original work. In an extreme state, it could be compressed to a little over one day.

But compared to the walking speed of ordinary people in Douluo Continent, the journey would take three to four months on foot. The difference was that Explosive Step was a "Profound Tier mid-grade explosive movement technique," not ordinary running.

Let's break it down.

(1) How far was it from Heaven Dou to Sun Moon?

In the The Unrivaled Tang Clan setting, the Heaven Dou Empire lay in the north-central region, while the Sun Moon Empire was to the west. The Ming Dou Mountains, Jingyang Mountains, and a stretch of border plains lay between them.

From border strongholds such as Dongyang City to the Heaven Dou border: less than 1,000 kilometers.

From Heaven Dou's southern border, around Shrek, across Heaven Dou to the Far North or border: Huo Yuhao took around a month traveling on foot.

In fanworks and setting supplements, the straight-line distance from the Heaven Dou border to Mingdu in the Sun Moon Empire was no more than 1,300 kilometers. Taking official roads and crossing mountains, the actual distance was around 1,500 to 2,000 kilometers.

For reference: Soul Tool trains, traveling at roughly 150 kilometers per hour, could cross Heaven Dou to the coast in a day; Huo Yuhao needed a month to travel through Heaven Dou to the Far North, while ordinary people would need three to four months to walk the entire route.

We'll use a practical distance of S ≈ 1,500 kilometers—the median distance from Shrek in the Heaven Dou heartland to Mingdu in the Sun Moon heartland. If only traveling to the border, then it would be 800 to 1,000 kilometers.

(2) How fast exactly was Explosive Step?

Explosive Step was a Profound Tier mid-grade movement technique Yun Yun gave Xiao Yan. It relied on explosions of Dou Qi beneath the feet for propulsion, and its effect was that its speed "far surpassed those of the same rank." However, the original work gave no precise meters-per-second figure, only qualitative descriptions:

When Xiao Yan used Explosive Step during the Da Dou Shi and Dou Ling stages, short bursts could leave opponents of the same rank behind. But it wasn't sustained flight—it was repeated explosive steps combined with inertial gliding.

Comparable examples: Profound Tier mid-grade movement techniques in Battle Through the Heavens were roughly two to five times faster than an ordinary person's sprint. An ordinary person sprinted at 10 meters per second, while Explosive Step in its explosive state could be estimated at 25 to 50 meters per second, or 90 to 180 kilometers per hour. However, it consumed Dou Qi every 0.3 seconds and couldn't be maintained indefinitely.

In actual combat, Xiao Yan wouldn't use Explosive Step nonstop. He would cycle through "a few explosive steps, then normal running to recover Dou Qi." For long-distance travel, an average speed of around one-third to one-half of the burst speed would be reasonable—roughly 30 to 90 kilometers per hour.

(3) Calculating the time.

Ideal limit: a Dou Emperor with an immense supply of Dou Qi using Explosive Step without stopping, at an average speed of 90 kilometers per hour.

1,500 ÷ 90 ≈ 16.7 hours. Without eating, drinking, or sleeping, that was around 0.7 days. Adding time for crossing mountains, detours, and recovering Dou Qi, it would realistically be compressed to one and a half to two days.

Xiao Yan's mid-stage level: Dou Ling or Dou Wang, averaging 40 kilometers per hour and running twelve hours a day.

1,500 ÷ (40 × 12) ≈ 3.1 days.

Only counting the trip to the border: 800 kilometers, averaging 40 kilometers per hour.

800 ÷ 480 ≈ 1.7 days.

Compared to walking normally: no Dou Qi, 5 kilometers per hour, eight hours per day.

1,500 ÷ 40 = 37.5 days; but in the original work, an ordinary person crossing Heaven Dou, climbing mountains, and passing border inspections would need three to four months.

(4) A few additional pitfalls.

Explosive Step consumed Dou Qi. Running across the continent required at least a Dou Emperor to sustain it, otherwise he would end up walking midway through.

The Ming Dou Mountains weren't flat ground. Explosive Step was difficult to use continuously on steep slopes and loose rocks, so it would actually be slower than on plains.

The Sun Moon Empire had border-defense Soul Tool radar. If Xiao Changge charged across the border using Explosive Step, the Sun Moon Empire's guarding Soul Engineers would mistake him for a spy and shoot him down.

So those were variables beyond travel time.

So, in short: with Explosive Step fully unleashed and controlled by an expert, it would take around two days from the Heaven Dou heartland to the Sun Moon heartland.

From border to border, it would take a little over one day; for an ordinary person walking on foot, it would take at least three months.

But the problem was that using Explosive Step would easily arouse suspicion. After all, who would use a Dou Qi technique to run to the Sun Moon Empire's border? The Sun Moon Empire's border guards were no pushovers. If he really did that, they would suspect him. If he used a horse, it was merely a travel tool, which would be safer and less likely to make him seem like a threat.

So, all things considered, using a horse was better.

Although a horse wasn't as fast as that movement technique, it was safe. It was simply a means of travel, and they were going to the Sun Moon Empire to obtain resources, grow stronger, and receive a better education—not to rob anyone.

So, it was better to keep the right attitude. Honestly using a travel tool was the safest method. Walking was too slow, so riding a horse was best.

Even though Xiao Changge was now a Soul Grandmaster, everyone knew what Soul Grandmasters on Douluo Continent were like. So riding a horse was the best choice.