1 - Convert the private key from hex to bytes
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000354d62e5f7a0d2eb2
b'\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03T\xd6._z\r.\xb2'
...
8 - Extended RIPEMD-160 Hash
b'\x00 \xd4Zjv%3BR\xc81\x8a\x87\xed053\xc1\xc7\xbb'
0020d45a6a7625334252c8318a87ed303533c1c7bb
...
13 - Convert the bytes to a base58-encoded Bitcoin address
13zb1hQbWVnN3ag9GNS2vCraT8PQJDjVdr
provide an alternative, more straightforward method, if available instead of this ?
Your process to generate the address from the hex private key is right, but when you are attacking private keys with brute force there are tons of ways to do it.
People do it the same way as you because they bruteforce the Hex Pk, ...000001, ....000002, etc. But if you want to know an alternate method let me explain one of my favorites:
You can start from the Address: 13zb1hQbWVnN3ag9GNS2vCraT8PQJDjVdr and get the RIPEMD-160 (20d45a6a7625334252c8318a87ed303533c1c7bb).
Sites like privatekeys.pw provide that Hash 160 as you can see in the next link:
https://privatekeys.pw/address/bitcoin/13zb1hQbWVnN3ag9GNS2vCraT8PQJDjVdrAnd if you want to get that RIPEMD-160 code by yourself you can use the next python script.
python3 -c "import binascii, hashlib, base58; hash160 = binascii.hexlify(base58.b58decode_check(b'13zb1hQbWVnN3ag9GNS2vCraT8PQJDjVdr')).decode()[2:]; print(hash160)"
Once you have the hash160 you can use tools like brainflayer to get the Private key from the hash160.