Profit is the accumulation of promises other people have made to you that they will work for you in the future.
That is, after all, why people seek profit. They like the security in knowing that others will do work for them in the future. When you feel hungry, you want to know that someone will work to give you food. When you feel cold, you want to know that someone will work to provide you shelter. When you feel bored, you want to know that someone will work to entertain you. So on and so forth.
Unless people can offer work that you want to have done in the future, you cannot profit. Rent seeking doesn't change anything. You still need valid promises of future work in order to profit.
