Recommendations Crafter MC that does not turn into a murderhobo

First let me say that I'm talking about shop owners in xianxialand. Or at least someone who sells their craft.

Seriously what the fuck. For a genre that likes to say that their MC are expert schemers, they don't know how to scheme at all. Seriously. Market manipulation and low key slavery my dude. Why fight when your customers can do it for you. And take advantage that they like saving face. "Oh look people of xianxia land, they're trying to shut me down while I'm weak. What a way to admit that I'm better than them right. Now that I've thought about it. They're probably a bigshot not because of their abilities but with their underhanded tactics. They're probably nothing in front of a true expert." It will not work in the real world for sure. But in a xianxia world where face is more important than life, it sure fucking is. Goad them in a fair and honest competition. Just don't push them too hard though.

Seriously why don't I see shit like this? The "big brain" scheme of the mc is just hoping that their enemies are stupid enough to fall in their trap. It's more interesting to see both sides try to find a way to make their schemes a "fair and honest" competition than what essentially is just straight up killing each other.

Also death of the mc is a bad stake. Xianxia novels only have one protagonist. It doesn't even have a deuteragonist. The majority of the story is about this single protagonist and the rest of the cast are just disposable side characters. You literally can replace them. That's how little they matter. They're just a tool so that the mc will grow to a certain direction. Other than that, nothing. I don't see them affecting the story. The story moves because of the protagonist instead of it being the one who should be moving the protagonist. If the protagonist die, the story is finished. This is why you can see overpowered plot armors. Sure the protagonist may kickstart the story, but the world should not revolve around the protagonist. Unless that was the plot.

Edit: Wew holy fuck. How rare is this?

 

Perhaps in time, as the genre gets more popular, new or old writers will regale us with tales of cultivation with more & more varying characteristics, some hitting the points you seek.

As of now, the only cultivation stories where the MC doesn't become a murderhobo I remember are the following:

"Beware of Chicken" & "Ave Xia Rem Y", both on RoyalRoad.

 

I'm really not the demon gods lackey
Mc is a owner of a small bookstore and almost never leaves it

 

Wew, not really what I was asking for but it is good. Although I am lowkey hoping there is an SCP like this.